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December sees mixed luck for Indian auto makers

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IANS Chennai/New Delhi/Bengaluru
Last Updated : Jan 04 2016 | 7:49 PM IST

It was a month of mixed luck for the Indian automobile makers during December 2015 with some logging positive sales growth while for some, sales went down compared to the volumes sold during December 2014.

Leading car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd last month sold 119,149 units during the month under review - up from an off-take of 109,791 units in the corresponding month of 2014.

"2015 was a year of transformation for Maruti Suzuki. The company set up premium channel Nexa for new products like S Cross and Baleno and launched hybrid Ciaz and Ertiga," said executive director, marketing and sales, R.S. Kalsi.

Similarly the second largest car maker in the country Hyundai Motor India reported eight percent overall growth - selling 64,135 units up from 59,391 units sold in December 2014.

"With strong performance of Grand i10, Elite i20 and Creta in December, Hyundai domestic volume grew by 28.8 percent with 41,861 units," said senior vice president, sales and marketing, Rakesh Srivastava.

Utility vehicles major Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd said it sold 37,915 units overall in December 2015 against 36,328 units in December 2014, a rise of 1,587 units in the period under review.

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The Indian subsidiary of French car maker Renault India sold 10,292 units last month up from 3,956 units sold during the corresponding period in the previous year.

On the other hand, Tata Motors reported negative growth overall with its sales dropping by 6.24 percent at 35,416 units as compared to 37,776 units sold in December 2014.

"Last year, in the anticipation of increase in excise, effective 1st of January 2015, the sales in December 2014 increased unusually. Hence, this year the sales have been impacted due to a high base effect," it said.

Tata Motors logged marginal growth in the commercial vehicles segment while sales of passenger cars and utility vehicles came down last month.

Ford India cited the Chennai floods as the reason for its sales volume coming down last month to 10,865 units as against 14,401 units sold in December 2014.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor said factors like ban on registration of diesel vehicles with engine capacity over 2,000 cc in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) and the floods in Chennai affected its December sales numbers.

The company sold 10,442 units last month compared to 11,738 units sold in December 2014, a drop of 1,296 units on a month-on-month basis.

In the two and three wheelers segment Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp reported negative sales while Eicher Motors showed growth.

Pune-based Bajaj Auto sold 289,003 units last month down from 289,244 units sold in December 2014.

TVS Motor closed last month with four percent sales growth at 202,086 units up from 194,481 units sold in December 2014.

Hero MotoCorp, the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer, clocked 499,665 units of two-wheeler dispatches in December 2015 down from 526,097 units sold in December 2014.

High powered bike maker Eicher Motors closed last month logging 41 percent volume growth at 40,453 units.

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First Published: Jan 04 2016 | 7:34 PM IST

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