Except Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) and Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), almost every giant multinational car maker operating in India has witnessed unsatisfactory sales during 2011. The official financial statements provided to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs clearly indicate that Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) suffered huge losses this year as against the previous financial year. However, some companies such as General Motors India and Ford India have managed to reduce their losses in 2010-11 as compared to 2009-10.
India's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, registered sales of 1.27 million vehicles in 2010-11, with earnings of Rs. 37,522 crore and a net profit to the tune of Rs. 2,289 crore.
In 2011, the auto industry of India witnessed accumulative sales of 2,973,900 passenger vehicles that comprised cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and multi purpose vehicles (MPVs). Out the total figure, 2,520,421 vehicles were sold within India while the rest 453,479 units were disseminated outside the country.
General Motors India confirmed that in spite of unfavourable global economic conditions, high interest rates, uncontrollable input cost and fluctuating fuel prices, the American car maker managed to sell 107,620 vehicles in 2011. In 2011 itself, GM India started its operations at the engine plant at Talegaon that was responsible for the production of Smartech engine. This facility also happens to be the first-of-its-kind production plant for GM that deals in both diesel as well as petrol engines.
Hyundai Motor India Limited saw a 13 per cent rise in its domestic sales mainly due to the success it got in the rural market. The company managed to touch the 358,583 units mark in the domestic market as against the 316,623 units it sold last year. Hyundai stated that it was able to dominate 18.1 per cent of the total passenger car sales in 2011. On the contrary, the company's sales went down by 18 per cent from 285,638 units to 233,058 units, owing to the weak trends in European market.
In 2011, Ford India commenced the export process for Figo, besides disseminating engines to Thailand. The exports have let the company see a significant growth of 700 per cent as against the last year. The earnings from exports aided the company to satisfy the current export obligations under Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme.
Honda said that in 2011 it emphasised on boosting up the localisation levels, seeking much support from local suppliers and strengthening its production system to give rise to critical components like power train parts. Moreover, following the entry of its small car Brio in the Indian market, the company is confident of improving its performance in the coming time.
Car makers have been desperately searching for alternatives to stand amid difficult situations that refuse to die out soon and thus, effective planning is a necessity for these companies at this point of time.
