Maruti, Hyundai in growth mode

New Delhi: Ahead of the festive season, car sales grew at a brisk pace in September with major auto makers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Honda Cars Ford and Tata Motors witnessing rise in dispatches. However, utility vehicle major M&M reported decl-ine in sales in September reflecting fragmented recovery that the auto industry is witnessing. Maruti Suzuki India said its domestic sales increa-sed by 6.8 per cent during the month to 1,06,083 units as against 99,290 units in September, 2014.

Its mini cars segment, which includes Alto and WagonR, increased marginally to 35,570 units as compared to 35,547 units in the year-ago month. Its compact segment has seen an increase in sales by 3.5 per cent to 44,826 units. Its newly launched premium crossover vehicle S-Cross clocked sales of over 3,600 units during the month.

Hyundai Motor India saw its highest-ever monthly domestic sales at 42,505 units in September as compared with 35,041 units in September 2014, up 21.3 per cent. HMIL senior vice-president (sales and marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said the company’s growth was driven by strong performance of its modern premium brands like CRETA, Elite i20, i20 Active and Grand.

Honda Cars India also reported 23 per cent increase in its domestic sales at 18,509 units in September. It had sold 15,015 units in the same month last year. M&M’s domestic sales were down 6 per cent to 39,693 units last month as against 42,408 units in September last year. Tata Motors’ sales of passenger cars in September were higher by 5 per cent at 10,226 units, as compared to 9,766 units in same period of last year. Its domestic passenger vehicles sales were flat at 11,774 units.