Maruti Suzuki India
Maruti Suzuki India Limited, leading automakers in India, reported a 14.4% increase in total sales. Total sales during April 2018 stood at 1,72,986 units as compared to 1,5,215 units sold in the same month of the previous year. Sales of passenger cars in domestic markets registered growth of 13.4% from 1,44,081 units in April 2017 to 1,63,434 units in April 2018. Commercial vehicle sales too surged by over 275% from 114 units sold in April 2017 to 1,544 units sold in the past month. Exports increased by 19.1% with 8,008 units exported in April 2018 as compared to 6,723 units exported in April 2017.
In the passenger vehicle segment, models such as the Swift, Baleno, Ignis, Celerio, Dzire and TourS noted an increase of 31.8% from 63,584 units sold in April 2017 to 83,834 units sold in the past month while sales of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz dipped 27.2% from 7,024 units sold in April 2017 to 5,116 units sold last month.
Hyundai
Hyundai Motors registered a 4.4% increase in sales in April 2018 with most attention received by the Verna, Creta and Grand i10. Sales in April 2018 stood at 46,735 units as against 44,758 units sold in April 2017. Exports surged 12% from 11,610 units exported in April 2017 to 13,009 units exported in the past month. Cumulative sales registered a 6% growth with 59,744 units sold in April 2018 as compared to 56,368 units sold in April 2017. The company expects to see better results soon with the new Santro launching this year along with the Creta facelift and Hyundai i20 automatic.
Mahindra
Mahindra and Mahindra has noted good growth both in the passenger and commercial vehicle segments during April 2018. Sales in the past month stood at 48,097 units, up 22% as against sales of 39,417 units in April 2017. In the passenger vehicle segment, sales surged 13% to 21,927 units sold while in commercial vehicle segment, sales increased 26% with 18,963 units sold. Exports were up 88% with 2,880 units exported in the past month.
Tata
Tata Motors passenger vehicle sales increased 34%, with Tata Tiago hatchback and Nexon sub-compact SUV contributing efficiently to sales. Sales stood at 17,235 units in April 2018 as against 12,827 units sold in April 2017. Commercial vehicle sales increased 126% from 16,017 units sold in April 2017 to 36,276 units sold last month. Tata Motors also reported a 41% increase in exports in April 2018 at 3,010 units as compared to exports in the same month of the
previous year.
Toyota
Toyota Kirloskar Motor sales are down 1.4 percent at 13,871 units sold (13037 units in domestic market and 834 Etios units exported. In April 2017, TKM sold a total of 41073 units (12964 units in the domestic market and exported 1109 units of the Etios series). Following a showcase at 2018 Auto Expo, the company has launched Toyota Yaris atan introductory price of Rs 8,75,000/- – 14,07,000/. delivery begins in mid-May.
Honda Cars
Honda Cars India noted a 35% decline in sales in April 2018. The company sold 9,595 units in April 2018 as compared to 14,922 units in April 2017. Domestic sales also fell by 36% from 14,480 units sold in April 2017 to 9,143 units sold in the past month while exports increased by 2.2% from 442 units exported in April 2017 to 452 exported in April 2018. Of all the models in the company lineup the Honda City and Honda WR-V noted good sales at 3,366 units and 2,949 units respectively while there were no sales of the Amaze sedan probably due to the fact that the 2nd Generation Honda Amaze is set for launch later this month.
Ford Motors
Ford Motors India registered a 40% drop in sales in April 2018. While domestic wholesales dipped by 2.5%, exports were down 55% during the past month. Total sales in April 2018 stood at 15,281 units, a 40% decline as compared to 25,149 units sold in the same month of the previous year. Domestic wholesales dipped 2.5% from 7,618 units sold in April 2017 to 7,428 units sold in the past month. Exports fell 55% from 17,531 units exported in April 2017 to just 7,853 units exported last month.
Ford India introduced the new Ford Freestyle in India in April 2018 priced from INR 5.09 lakhs. This crossover vehicle has been well received in India but impact on company sales can be assessed only in May.
Even as car sales opened this financial year on a strong note, rising fuel priced and chances of a hike in interest rates could be a damper on future sales while forecasts of a normal monsoon is what automakers are banking on to see increased sales over the next couple of months.
