Maruti, Hyundai post record annual sales in FY16

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and Hyundai Motor India today reported their respective best ever annual sales in the fiscal ended March 31, leading the auto sector towards the recovery path.
Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda Cars India (HCIL) also posted a sales growth in 2015-16.
For the 2015-16 fiscal, MSI posted sales of 14,29,248 units, a growth of 10.6 per cent. This comprises highest ever domestic sales of 13,05,351 units and 1,23,897 units of exports.
"We posted record (domestic) sales in 2015-16. While the industry grew by around 7 per cent, we grew 11.5 per cent during the fiscal," MSI Executive Director Marketing and Sales R S Kalsi told PTI.

Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd saw its sales rise 15.1 per cent in 2015-16 at 4,84,324 units compared to 4,20,668 units in 2014-15.
HMIL Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said the company achieved the best ever yearly sales due to strong performance of models like Creta, Elite i20 and Grand i10.

Homegrown utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra's domestic sales during the FY16 rose by 5 per cent to 4,58,065 units compared with 4,34,568 units in 2014-15.
M&M Chief Executive (auto division) Pravin Shah said the last financial year was significant for the firm considering the number of new product launches which were well received by the customers leading to a positive growth both in domestic and overseas markets.

"Going forward, we hope to see good opportunity with our wide product portfolio. Further, the likely softening of interest rates in the upcoming RBI monetary policy will help the automotive industry to maintain its growth momentum in FY2017," he added.
Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) said in the fiscal ended March 31, 2016, its domestic sales were at 1,92,059 units as against 1,89,062 units in 2014-15, up 2 per cent.
Commenting on company's sales performance, HCIL Senior Vice President - Marketing & Sales Jnaneswar Sen said: "Year 2015-16 was an eventful and rewarding year for HCIL. We continued our growth journey in the market making this year as 4th consecutive year of annual sales growth."

On the outlook, he said: "The new fiscal year holds tremendous opportunity for our further growth as we will enhance our product line-up with the launch of new models and expand our dealer network."
He said with the upcoming launch of Honda BR-V, the company will will mark its entry into a new product segment.
In the two-wheeler segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp
reported a 2.32 per cent increase in sales at 5,83,117 units in May. It had sold 5,69,876 units in May 2015.
Market demand was expectedly subdued in May, due to heavy retail offtake that happened in April on account of marriage season and regional festivals in different parts of the country during that month, the company said.

"However, a good monsoon after two consecutive years of sub-normal rains could lead to a change in sentiments in the rural markets, which may lead to a positive turn-around in the industry in the second half of this fiscal," the company said.
Niche bike maker Royal Enfield reported 37 per cent jump in total motorcycle sales at 48,604 units as against 35,354 units sold in the same month last year.