Passenger car sales up 56 per cent in Apr-Dec

Passenger car sales up 56 per cent in Apr-Dec
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

NEW DELHI, JAN 22: Passenger car sales jumped by 56 per cent during the first nine months of the current fiscal riding on increased demand for Hyundai Santro, Telco Indica, Daewoo Matiz. Sales of almost all passenger car manufacturers grew in this period. Maruti Udyog Ltd closed the period with sales of 295,357 units, up 24.5 per cent from 237,268 units a year earlier. Hyundai recorded sales of 51,118 units of Santro and Accent during the period, up from 8,448 units in the corresponding period the previous year. Daewoo Motors India sold 25,342 units of Matiz, Cielo and Nexia during the period while Ind Auto sold 16,124 units of Uno and Siena.

The entire passenger car market sales stood at 456,238 as against 291,916 in the previous year. According to SIAM figures, General Motors, Honda Siel and Mercedes Benz were the only manufacturers to have recorded a drop in sales during the nine-month period. Honda Siel sold 6,380 units of City, down 7.7 per cent from 6,918 units a year ago. GM recorded sales of 1834, down from 2801 in the previous nine-month period, while Mercedes Benz sold 715 units of its E-class, down 26.9 per cent from 979 units.

Meanwhile, the commercial vehicle segment grew 30 per cent in the nine months to 1,17,250 units as against 90,255 units a year earlier. Heavy commercial vehicle sales were 76,267 units, up 50.35 per cent from 50,725 units a year earlier, while light commercial vehicle sales grew 3.68 per cent to 40,983 units.

The sales of multi-utility vehicles touched 83,042 units as compared to 79,393 units a year earlier.

The scooter segment, however, registered lower volumes at 926,730 units, down 4.58 per cent from 971,234 units a year earlier. But motorcycle sales shot up 27.12 per cent to 1,251,505 million units.