A 12 per cent jump in sales in July 2001 over the same month last year has helped Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) to improve its market share from 58 per cent to 65 per cent in July.
Hyundai Motor India, however, in striking contrast reported a 3.6 per cent decline in sales during the same period over last year.
MUL, which dominated nearly 80 per cent of the market two years ago till increasing competition began nibbling at its share, sold 29,509 passenger cars in July 2001 against 26,337 units sold in July last year.
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A company official said that despite an overall sluggish market, MUL's cumulative sales in the April-July 2001 quarter were 15 per cent higher than in the same period last year.
July 2001 sales are up 13.1 per cent against the previous month (June) when MUL sold 26,092 units.
Hyundai Motor, which manufactures the B-segment Santro and the C-segment Accent, and which launched Sonata in the D segment last month, has sold 7,003 units in July 2001, a decline of 3.6 per cent when compared with 7,265 units sold in July 2000. July 2001 sales include 55 units of Sonatas as well.
Hyundai managing director Y S Kim attributed the "marginal" drop in sales to a technical correction aimed at inventory rationalisation at dealerships.
In April-July 2001, Hyundai registered a growth of 8 per cent by selling 30,687 cars.
If the industry sold 45,400 passenger cars during the month, Hyundai's marketshare stood at 15.43 per cent.
Maruti's share in the competitive B segment (Zen, Alto, Wagon R, etc) shot up to 51 per cent in July 2001, from 31 per cent in July 2000.
The company sold 12,054 units in this segment, with Zen sales touching 6,745 units.
Analysts pointed out MUL's sales may have increased in July in view of the imminent price hike announced by the company around the middle of the month.
The MUL official, however, reiterated such announcements do not impact consumer decisions.
Official figures were not available from Daewoo Motor India Ltd. However, sources said that the company just managed to cross the figure of 2,033 units registered by it in the previous month, i.e. May 2001, primarily due to the 100 per cent sale of 300 units of a new black colour special edition of the small car Matiz introduced last month.
If sales figures of July 2000 is compared against those of July 1999, passenger car sales had dropped 13.3 per cent in July 2000 to 47,375 cars. MUL's car sales fell by 26 per cent, its market share decreasing from 68.45 per cent in July 1999 to 58.39 per cent in July 2000.
On the other hand, both Daewoo Motor and Hyundai Motor's July 2000 sales increased 47 per cent during the same period.
Meanwhile, July 2001 also saw the launch of D segment cars. Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, which launched the premium salon Accord, reported it sold 332 units of the new car in the first month against a target of 250 units. The company also sold 895 units of its City (C-segment) and Accord models during the month, as against 606 units (only City) sold in July 2000, an increase of 47.6 per cent. In June, Honda had reported a 10.9 per cent drop in its sales over June last year.
On the other hand, sales of Hindustan Motor's 'Lancer' (which is made in technical collaboration with Mitsubishi Motor of Japan) in the C-segment decreased 14.34 per cent from 502 units in July 2000 to 430 units in July 2001. Sale of the flagship model Ambassador also declined 28.5 per cent from 1,423 units to 1,018 units in July year-on-year.