Tata Motors June sales surge 37 per cent

Tata Motors has reported total volume sales of 45,223 units for the month of June 2006 as compared to 33,018 units during June 2005. Strong growth in LCV, hatchback passenger cars and exports helped the company to sustain the growth momentum.

Passenger car sales in the domestic market for the month were at 18,463 units, an increase of 27.8 per cent as compared to the same month of previous year. Hatchback model Indica was once again the star performer, selling 12,271 units – an increase of 41 per cent year-on-year.

Sales of Indigo sedan model and Indigo Marina station wagon declined marginally by 1.7 per cent to 2,885 units for the month.

The substantial cut in prices of SUV model Safari, boosted sales to 1,011 units in June 2006. This is the first time ever the model has sold more than 1,000 units in a month. Total sales of Safari and UV model Sumo increased 17.5 per cent to 3,307 units.

For the first quarter April-June, sales of passenger vehicles increased 21.2 per cent to 49,906 units. Indica sales increased by 32.7 per cent while Indigo sales went down by 6 per cent. SUV and UV sales increased by 14.6 per cent over same month of last year.

Tata Motors has sustained the strong growth in commercial vehicle sales in the domestic market. The company sold a total of 21,565 units in the domestic market during the month, an increase of 38.9 per cent from June 2005.

The strong performance of for the month was aided by a substantial 63.8 per cent jump in LCV sales to 9,757 units. Of this, small goods carrier Ace contributed more than 5,000 units. The company is reportedly planning a passenger version of the Ace to compete with Marti's Omni and Versa models.

Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles increased 23.3 per cent to 11,808 units during June 2006.

For the April- June quarter, domestic sales of commercial vehicles has gone up by an incredible 69.5 per cent. LCV sales have jumped 86.4 per cent while sales of bigger commercial vehicles went up by 59.1 per cent.

Exports increased substantially by 71 per cent to 5,195 units for as compared to 3,037 units in June 2005. For the April-June quarter, exports were higher by 45.8 per cent at 13,106 units.