Hyundai, M&M drive auto sales cheer in November

Diwali demand helped the country’s car makers to report a double-digit growth in November, a consecutive month of high growth. Based on industry data, the November sale is estimated to have grown by about 11 per cent.

Three top players — Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Mahindra — reported a double-digit growth. November in 2014 was a low base month, since Diwali was celebrated in October. In October, automobile makers had reported an increase of 21 per cent.

The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, has reported an increase of more than 10 per cent in domestic sales during November. Sales for the company that enjoys almost half of the market share in passenger vehicles grew 10.6 per cent to 110,599 units, the company said.

Maruti’s mini segment, which comprises of Alto and WagonR, declined 4.7 per cent during the month. All other segments reported a growth. Bulk of the growth was led by the compact segment due to Baleno that was launched last month. The compact segment accounted for 40 per cent of total domestic sales in November and grew by 19.5 per cent. The stock market was not enthused with the numbers. At BSE, the company’s stock price closed at Rs 4,552.85, marginally down from the previous day.

Hyundai, the second-largest, reported 23 per cent jump in sales during November. Sales grew to 43,651 units. The Korean car maker continues to see strong demand for its sports utility vehicle, Creta, launched in July. Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president (sales and marketing), said the industry has continued to maintain a positive trend so far this year and there is an expectation of the momentum continuing in the next quarter as well.

Mahindra has reported a 36 per cent growth in November sales. The company said there is a growth in demand for the existing products like Bolero and Scorpio as well as for the TUV300 that was launched in September.

Pravin Shah, president & chief executive (automotive) at M&M said, “The festive season coupled with new product launches as well as moderation in interest rates has seen the industry post a positive growth during the last couple of months. I believe speedy implementation of GST will help and have a long term impact on the competitiveness of Indian auto industry”. M&M’s stock price closed at Rs 1,369.70, up 0.18 per cent from the previous day.

Two prominent Japanese players, Honda and Toyota, saw a decline in November. Honda’s sales declined over three per cent to 14,712 units. The sales of the Jazz, relaunched in July, is also losing steam. Toyota’s sales in the month saw a steep decline of 15 per cent. The company has not launched a new model this year. Ford India sold 8,773 units in November, up 55 per cent from the same month last year. The company did two launches this year — the Aspire and the Figo. Tata Motors had not shared its sales number at the time of going to print but it is learnt the company’s sales declined sharply in the month.