Pune: Maruti Suzuki, India’s biggest carmaker with a 51 per cent market share and Hyundai Motor, the second largest carmaker, on Wednesday reported continued decline in sales in April, indicating a slowdown due to multiple factors, including tepid demand in Asia’s third largest economy.
However, sales rose 23 per cent at Honda Cars, the fourth largest carmaker in the country, brining some cheer to the auto industry.
Other car manufacturers like Mahindra and Tata Motors did not release their sales data till going to the press.
Maruti Suzuki’s entry-level passenger car duo, the Alto and old WagonR hatchbacks, sold a total of 22,766 units last month, down 39.8 per cent year-on-year as against 37,794 units sold last year, the company said in a statement.
The seven-model compact car lot comprising new WagonR, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, Dzire, Dzire Tour S accounted for 72,146 units but down 13.9 per cent compared with 83,834 units sold in the previous year.
The premium Ciaz sedan also saw its sales fall sharply by 45.5 per cent to 2,789 units as against 5,116 units sold last year.
The quartet of utility vehicles such as Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross and Vitara Brezza was the only segment in positive territory with sales of 22,035 units, up 5.9 percent compared with 20,804 units sold last year.
Maruti Suzuki’s total sales fell 17.2 per cent in April at 143,245 units. The company had sold 172,986 units in April last year.
Sales at Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor also fell 10 per cent to 42,005 units last month as against 46,735 units sold last year.
However, the Japanese automaker Honda Cars sold 11,272 car last month compared with 9,143 units it sold in the same month last year.
“Our April sales growth is primarily due to the lower base effect, as there was no Amaze in the corresponding month last year during model runout,” Rajesh Goel, Senior Vice President and Director, Sales and Marketing at Honda Cars India, said.
“The ongoing elections and overall subdued market sentiment continues to affect the sales momentum. Going forward, the industry is heading towards a tougher year, impacting sales due to volatility in fuel prices, increase in car prices owing to new regulations and stricter inventory control for smooth switchover to BS6 regime by year end,” he pointed out.
The maker of Royal Enfield motorcycles also reported a 17 per cent dip in sales on a yearly basis to 62,879 units in April.
Sales of models with engine capacity up to 350cc fell 21 per cent to 55,522 units while the sales of models with engine capacity exceeding 350cc grew 21 per cent to 7,537 units.
