Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited, a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp. of Japan and the Kirloskar Group, has registered a decline of 37.36 per cent in domestic car sales during April 2013. The company sold 9,007 units last month, in place of 14,738 units sold in April 2012. Since 1,449 Etios models were also exported to South Africa, the total sales stood at 10,456 for the month of April in 2013.
Expressing his views on the low sales figures for this year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer (Marketing and Commercial) Sandeep Singh said, “The market continues to be sluggish and is expected to take some time to revive. We have taken measures to reduce inventory, both at our and at the dealers end.”
After noticing the current trend of diminishing sales, the company has decided to reduce inventory stock at its dealerships. Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the apex auto industry governing body, has also stated that not many improvements in sales are expected to be seen in FY 2013-14. At the moment, sales recovery seems like a distant reality for most companies.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor had signed an agreement in April 2012 with Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, to provide financial support to their potential customers. This is an attempt to push the sales of their vehicles by making them more affordable. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the companies, finance options will be available for all Toyota vehicles in India.
On a similar note, sales of vehicles for various other car manufacturers in the country also declined. Top passenger vehicle manufacturer Maruti Suzuki recorded a 3.1 per cent decline in total sales numbers, selling 97,302 units in April 2013 as opposed to 1,00,415 units in the same period last year. Tata Motors total sales also went down by 14.85 per cent, with sales of 51,160 units this April, in comparison to 60,086 units in April 2012.
