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Major carmakers, including Maruti Suzuki India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and General Motors India, reported decline in domestic sales in April as demand continued to be subdued due to overall unfavourable macro-economic conditions.
Other manufacturers Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Honda Cars India and Ford, however, reported increase in April sales on the back of their new models.
The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) reported 12.6% decline in its April sales during the month at 79,119 units.
Sales of the company's bread and butter segment mini cars comprising M800, Alto, A-Star and WagonR declined by 25.4% to 26,043 units, while those of premium compact cars consisting of Swift, Estilo, Ritz rose by 9.9% to 23,659 units in April.
MSI said sales of its popular compact sedan Dzire declined 17.7% during the month under review to 16,008 units, while sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, also declined by 5.8% to 5,011 units in April.
Similarly, homegrown Mahindra & Mahindra also saw its domestic sales dropping by 15% at 34,107 units as against 39,902 in the same month previous year.
"It is unfortunate that the auto industry has not seen an upturn over the last couple of months in spite of a reduction in excise duty," M&M Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah said.
The company expects that post the general elections, sentiments would improve, leading to a better economic situation and hence increased demand, he added.
General Motors India also reported a 35.30% decline in April sales at 5,302 units.
"Customer sentiment continues to remain negative even with price reduction on account of excise duty cut and other market promotion schemes," General Motors India Vice President P Balendran said.
Going by the market scenario, the company expects the challenging times to continue as the general economic conditions continue to remain depressed, he added.
"The buoyancy in the market is completely missing and we don't see any upturn before the new government assumes office," Balendran said.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor also saw its domestic sales decline by 16.04% at 7,562 units in April. The company, which saw labour unrest at its Bangalore facility, said it resumed normal production from April 22.
In contrast, Hyundai Motor India, saw its sales increase by 8.78% in its domestic sales at 35,248 units last month.
