New Delhi: Major car companies saw contraction in sales in November after a brief uptick in previous month due to the festival season.
Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra and Mahindra, Toyota and General Motors among others witnessed contraction in their domestic sales in November. However, Ford with its compact SUV Ecosport and Honda with diesel sedan Amaze recorded good sales numbers in November.
India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki saw its domestic car sales in November contracting by around 6 per cent due to weak consumer sentiments. The company saw its exports declining by 46 per cent.
Hyundai Motor India, country’s second largest car manufacturer saw its domestic car sales declining by 3.6 per cent and exports contracting by 23 per cent.
“After the festival season market has been sluggish due to unfavorable macro-economic factors and the low market sentiments resulting lower customer enquiries,” said Rakesh Srivastava, senior VP (sales and marketing), Hyundai Motor India.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold 10,208 units in the domestic market in November 2013 as compared to 10,352 units in the same month last year. “The market continues to be sluggish and market sentiments are not expected to improve in the coming months,” said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director and chief executive officer (marketing and commercial) Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
General Motors India reported 14.14 per cent decline in sales at 6,214 units in November 2013.
“As expected, the market has gone down drastically after a small spike during the festive season. Unless the government offers a stimulus package to the struggling automobile industry, the market is unlikely to see any upturn before a new government assumes office after elections next year,” said P. Balendran, vice president, GM India.
However, Honda Cars India saw its sales growing by 151 per cent in November due to the demand for its entry level diesel sedan Amaze.
