The Diwali festivities between October and November months of 2012 returned some head turning sales results, with many automobile industry heavyweights witnessing sharp drop in demand as compared to same period last year. The top performer list for November 2012 is headed as usual by Maruti Suzuki, closely followed by Mahindra and Mahindra Limited. The list of car making firms having a dismal November, include the likes of Tata Motors, Hyundai Motor and Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country's favourite passenger car maker, witnessed an above average 9.67 per cent in the number of vehicles sold in domestic market at 90,882 units during November 2012. Evidently, the company had sold some 82,870 units last year during the same month. According to reports, this year's sales boost witnessed by Maruti Suzuki is driven by the company's brand new entry-level offering, Alto 800 along with its other products in the compact hatchback segment. Further, Swift DZire, Maruti Suzuki's sole entry-level sedan offering, recorded impressive sales in November 2012 as well.
The country's leading utility vehicle maker, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M), also registered a 38.12 per cent jump in its passenger vehicles sales in domestic market at 24,604 units during November 2012. The Indian auto major had sold just 17,813 units in the same month last year, when its product portfolio missed immensely successful products like compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Quanto and XUV500 SUV. M&M sales during October and November months comprised its utility vehicle fleet and Verito sedan.
Expressing his delight on immense success and adulation received by the company's latest offering - compact SUV Quanto, Pravin Shah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Automotive Division, M&M, said, "We are happy to maintain our growth trend on the back of our portfolio of products especially the Quanto, which has crossed more than 12,000 bookings in just over two months."
Evidently, Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL), a subsidiary of Japanese auto major Honda, reported an astounding surge of 87.24 per cent in its total sales at 3,711 units during last November. The numbers are great as the company had sold just 1,982 units last year during the same month.
Coming to the auto makers operating on Indian turf with declining sales in November 2012, the prominent mentions are Hyundai Motor, Tata Motors and Toyota Kirloskar Motor. MSIL's stiffest rival and country's largest exporter of passenger cars, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), saw its domestic sales going down marginally at 34,751 units during November 2012, as against some 35,000 units sold in the same month last year. Speaking his mind regarding marginal decline in sales witnessed by the company, Rakesh Srivastava, Vice President (VP), Marketing and Sales, HMIL, said, “The adverse market conditions due to high interest rates and inflation continued to pose challenges for growth. Increased diesel fuel price temporarily affected the strong momentum of diesel car sales."
On the similar lines, Tata Motors, the country's largest automobile manufacturer, witnessed a sharp 34.99 per cent drop in total passenger vehicle sales in November this year. Reportedly, the company sold some 27,735 units in the corresponding month of 2011 calendar year.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor, the Indo-Japanese joint venture partnership between Kirloskar Group and Toyota Motor Corp., recorded a 25.82 per cent drop in vehicle sales at 10,352 units in November 2012, as compared to 13,956 units sold during the corresponding month last year. Commenting on the almost 26 per cent sales drop, Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director (MD), Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, “The sales have dropped this month due to a plant shut down, to ramp up the annual production capacity from 2,10,000 units to 3,10,00 units for the next calendar year.”
Ford India Private Limited (FIPL), a subsidiary of American auto major Ford Motor Co., saw its domestic sales plunge by 28.57 per cent at 5,944 units during November 2012, as compared to some 8,322 units sold in the corresponding month last year. Commenting on the huge sales drop witnessed by the company, Vinay Piparsania, Executive Director, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford India, said, "Despite ongoing market challenges, we are very pleased to see customer sentiments improving and their confidence in the Ford brand continuing to grow."
