MUL sales up 13%

Two-wheeler major, Hero Honda, sees 6.34% growth.

Car market leader Maruti Udyog today reported 12.9 per cent increase in total sales for April 2006 at 43,127 units against 38,190 units in corresponding month a year ago.

The company's domestic sales in the month were up 12.4 per cent at 41,574 units against 36,972 units in April 2005.

Exports for the company showed signs of revival, with Maruti Udyog posting an exports growth of 27.5 per cent at 1,553 units during the month as against 1,218 units shipped in April 2005..

Barring a handful of automobile companies based in the northern states, most automobile companies did not announce their monthly sales numbers as offices remained shut for May Day in most parts of the country.

Maruti's growth driver continued to come from the B-segment, which comprises cars such as Alto, WagonR, Zen and Swift.

The segment, benefiting the most by the 8 per cent cut on excise duty on small cars, grew 26.4 per cent at 28,156 units in April compared with 22,280 units in the same month last year.

Maruti's entry level model, M800, saw a 16.6 per cent dip in April sales at 5,761 units compared with 6,910 units in the same month last year.

Two-wheeler market leader, Hero Honda, today reported 6.34 per cent growth in total sales at 250,366 units for April, against 235,422 units in the same month last fiscal.

Premium car marker, Honda Siel Cars India, leading manufacturer of premium cars in India, clocked a growth of 27.30 per cent in April 2006 over the corresponding month last year in 2005.

The company sold a total of 4,551 units in April 2006 against 3,575 units in the corresponding month during the previous year.

Honda City - the flagship model from Honda Siel, registered sales of 4,007 units. Honda Accord sold 231 units and its sports utility vehicle CR-V sales were 313 units in April 2006.

Cumulative sales for the calendar January-April 2006, also registered an increase of 22 per cent compared with cumulative sales during the corresponding period in the previous calendar year.

In terms of volumes, cumulative sales jumped from 14,286 units during January-April 2005 to 17,430 units during January-April 2006.