Passenger car sales rise 8.3% in January

Passenger car sales rose 8.3 per cent in the domestic market in January. Around 84,235 units were sold against 77,744 units last year.

According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), motorcycle sales were up 14.6 per cent at 4,99,333 units in January against 4,35,665 units last year.

Commercial vehicle sales saw growth of 14.8 per cent at 34,037 units compared with 29,634 units in January 2005.

Led by market leaders Maruti Udyog and Tata Motors, car sales started the new year on a healthy note rising 8.3 per cent at 84,235 units. But, Hyundai Motor India witnessed a sharp 20 per cent decline in volume.

Maruti Udyog, Tata Motors, Ford India and Honda Siel led the sales charge, despite six of the 11 carmakers saw slackening demand. In fact, Hyundai's monthly sales fell from 14,540 units in January 2005 to 11,631 units last month.

Car sales in the last 10 months of this financial year were relatively subdued at 707,901 units, a single-digit growth of 5.9 per cent over 6,68,382 units in the corresponding period last financial year, SIAM said.

The two-wheeler segment was led by Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto, the latter seeing a growth of 31 per cent in numbers.

Motorcycle sales in the April 2005 to January 2006 period grew 16.5 per cent at 47.82 lakh units against 41.03 lakh units in the last 10 months of the last financial year, SIAM said.

On the other hand, scooter and scooterettee sales, which rose 11.9 per cent in January at 78,933 units (70,490), were down 3.4 per cent in the 10 months ended January 31, 2006 at 753,770 units.

Commercial vehicles sales during the 10-month period grew 7.54 per cent to 2,71,979 units. Light commercial vehicles sales rose 18.33 per cent in the same period to 1,13,724 units, while the growth in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment remained nearly flat at 1,58,255 units for the 10-month period.