For a long time now, the sales figures of auto makers in the India have been scrutinised in order to assess and determine the overall market condition. Unfortunately, the past few months were quite torrid for most firms as they clocked negative growth due to numerous reasons. However, there were a few signs of improvement in the month of August for some companies and the industry pegged back into the positive territory. Statistics for the month of September were released recently by all auto makers and things have turned out to be pretty mixed. While some companies have been able to register positive numbers, sales of others took a toll. Firms like Tata Motors, Hyundai and General Motors saw a fall in sales whereas Maruti Suzuki, Toyota and Ford recorded growth.
The country's largest passenger car maker, Maruti Suzuki, sold 104964 units in the month of September, which was an 11.07 per cent increase from the corresponding period last year. However, the high rise in sales was majorly due to the firm's excellent performance in the export market, clocking 14565 units. In fact, the sales percentage in the domestic market rose only by 1.8 per cent for Maruti Suzuki. Reports from analysts have suggested that these sort of figures depict the kind of slowdown the market has been experiencing for the past year. While Maruti Suzuki experienced growth, its arch rival in the passenger car market, Hyundai, saw a 4 per cent dip in sales, clocking 51418 units. Speaking on the tough market conditions, Rakesh Srivastava, Senior Vice-President at Hyundai India, said, "In the current market scenario, volume growth is a big challenge."
Evidently, the going has been tough for car companies operating in India and the economic conditions have not been favourable as well. Due to the prevalent crisis, companies have been experiencing low revenue and profit figures. However, it is not only the producers whose interests are being hampered as consumers have been feeling the heat of the worsening condition of the economy. Fuel and borrowing rates have been on the rise for some time and the corresponding increase in the income levels has not been proportionate, thereby pushing customers away from showrooms. Irrespective of all this, automobile manufacturers are still pretty optimistic about their fortunes in the upcoming festive season, hoping for a major turnaround in fortunes.
Tata Motors, one of the biggest brands in the market, saw a 34 per cent dip in sales for the month of September as it managed to sell only 50427 units. While sales in the domestic market, just under 46000 units, fell by 35 per cent, the export numbers for Tata Motors took a plunge by 19 per cent. The story for another big name, Mahindra & Mahindra, has been quite similar as it recorded sales of only 43289 units in September 2013. The month of September in 2013 was not good for General Motors as it reported a fall of 5 per cent in sales. While firms like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra saw a dip in sales, Toyota and Ford recorded positive numbers. The Indian subsidiaries of the American and Japanese car makers experienced a rise by 51 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.
Industry experts feel that this kind of performance leaves everyone hanging in balance as the future is quite tentative. On one hand where some companies have experienced growth, others have showed no signs of improvement. However, the upcoming festive season is going to witness a bevy of launches, something that might trigger a response from customers. Also, the recent cut in the price of petrol might just prove to be a good thing for companies in the Indian car market.
