After four consecutive record-setting months, vehicles sales in the country slowed down in November, growing by 17.81 per cent as against 45.93 percent growth registered in October on year-on-year basis.
The total number of vehicles sold in the country stood at 12,21,981 units in November this year as against 10,37,232 units in the same month last year. This is a drop of 16 per cent from the 14,60,655 vehicles sold in October this year when the industry registered a grown of around 46 per cent.
Senior director of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Sugato Sen said, “The automobiles sales growth in November was slower than September and October, and the actual volume was also lower. The main reason was the build-up to the festive season that gave additional volumes.” According to Sen, the industry body expects even lower sales in December as compared to November.
“Fundamentals such as interest rates, availability of liquidity and products remain favourable. We expect the automobile industry to record an average growth between 25 to 30 per cent this fiscal,” he said.
According to data available, domestic passenger car sales increased by 20.79 per cent to 1,61,497 units in November, compared to 1,33,703 sold units during the same month last year.
| THE COMPARATIVE STORY | |||
| Nov ‘09 | Nov ’10 | Increase (%) | |
| Passenger cars | 133,703 | 161,497 | 20.79 |
| Two-wheelers | 790,613 | 930,370 | 17.68 |
| Commercial vehicles | 40,885 | 48,314 | 18.17 |
| Three-wheelers | 39,020 | 40,420 | 3.58 |
While Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) recorded 11.86 per cent growth in domestic sales at 31,501 units last month, sales declined by a whopping 33.79 per cent to 12,234 units for Tata Motors. HMIL’s overall sales (domestic and exports) were down by 19 per cent with exports halving to 13,002 units during the month.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the country’s largest car manufacturer, continued to post healthy numbers with domestic sales going up by 29.25 per cent to 87,618 units from 67,786 units reported during the same month last year,
Overall, two-wheeler sales grew by 17.68 per cent to 9,30,370 units last month as compared to 7,90,613 units sold in November 2009. Motorcycle sales, in the meantime, increased by 15.61 per cent to 7,10,182 units from 6,14,274 units in the same month last year. Hero Honda, which sells one of every two motorcycles in the country, witnessed a growth of 6.95 per cent at 3,82,138 units. Bajaj Auto gained at 1,93,174 units, up 18.67 per cent from the corresponding month last year. TVS Motor Co had sold 49,534 units, up 50.34 per cent from the same month last year.
The commercial vehicles segment carried forward the upward trend that began in July 2009, with sales in November going up by 18.17 per cent to 48,314 units from 40,885 units in the year-ago period. Sales of light commercial vehicles surged by 22.67 per cent in November to 26,359 units from 21,486 units. Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales rose by 13.35 per cent to 21,955 units.
