Car sales growth falters in H1

14 October 2008

Domestic passenger vehicles sales grew by 5.4 per cent in the first half of 2008-09, at over six lakhs units according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). This was less than half of last year's sales growth of 13 per cent.

On the optimistic side the sales remained in positive territory despite double digit interest rates on auto loans.

Maruti Suzuki sold 3.07 lakh units, a 4.8 per cent increase as against the same period last year mainly on the back of successful sales of the premium sedan SX4 and newly launched model Swift Dzire. Market leader Maruti's double-digit production growth was mainly due to export orders while Hyundai also which more than doubled its sales tally with help from to a 23,911 unit export order.

Cumulative car exports were up 56 per cent in the first half of the year.

Hyundai Motor's sales were up 29 per cent at 1.26 lakh units. However, Tata Motors and Honda Siel did not do too well. Tata Motors recorded a 7 per cent drop in sales to 76,245 units despite having launched variants of the Indigo and the Indica Vista.

Honda Siel Cars also saw a drop of 19 per cent in sales even with the launch of its new Accord and Hybrid City.

Sales of heavy commercial vehicle declined by 1.57 per cent at 1.15 lakh units as credit remained difficult to obtain. In contrast, light commercial vehicles recorded a robust 10 per cent growth at 1.06 lakh units.