M&M races ahead, Hyundai slows down, Tata skids

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), the utility vehicle and passenger car manufacturer, showed a robust growth of 43.59 per cent for the month of August in the passenger vehicle category, thanks to its alliance with Renault.

The company sold 2,252 Logan sedans during the month. Comparable year-on-year figures were not available as the car started production only in the month of April this year.

The company's utility vehicle (UV) segment, which includes Scorpio, Bolero, Armada among others, grew by 20 per cent.

The company sold 11,494 units of UV's during the period. In all the company sold 13,746 units of passenger vehicles during the reporting month compared with 9,573 units for the same period last year.

Tata Motors, the third-largest car maker, disappointed in August as sales dipped 5.25 per cent to 16,620 units (17,541 units). The company sells Indica, Indigo, Safari and the Sumo brand of vehicles among others.

The sales of Indica slumped by 4 per cent to 11,396 units, while Sumo and Safari declined by 12 per cent to 3,032 units. The company is gearing up to launch completely new models of Indica, Indigo and Sumo in due course.

The domestic sales of Hyundai, on the other hand, were virtually stagnant growing at only 0.23 per cent at 16,138 units against 16,101 units for the same month of the previous year. It had grown by 8 per cent in the previous year for that month.

Arvind Saxena, VP - marketing and sales, Hyundai Motor India, said, "With the festive season round the corner, we expect sales to grow across segments in the coming months".

The industry has not seen any new launches from the company even as rival Maruti Udyog launched SX4 and the Swift diesel models in the market.

The company is banking on its forthcoming launches, including Santro CNG and a new compact diesel-driven car, to boost sales.