Tata Motors' April sales dip 4.2%

Tata Motors has recorded a 4.2 per cent decline in sales (including exports) at 23,889 units in the last month compared with 24,961 in April 2004.

The country's largest bus and truck maker's sales in the domestic market dropped to 21,104 units last month compared with 24,026 in the year-ago period.

However, sales in the export markets stood at 2,785 vehicles "" a growth of 197 per cent "" compared with 935 vehicles in the corresponding month last year.

Commercial vehicle sales stood at 10,159 during the month under review, of which 8,368 were in the domestic market and 1,791 were in the exports market.

The company sold 5,248 medium and heavy commercial vehicles in the domestic market compared with 7,975 in April 2004.

Meanwhile, light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales stood at 3,120 in April 2005 (4,075 vehicles in April 2004).

"There was an increase in undispatched stock of vehicles due to unanticipated difficulties in certification and procurement of some critical parts. Efforts to streamline the availability of vehicles are currently under way and the company expects to make up in the next two months," a company release said.

Sales of the company's flagship passenger vehicle Indica grew by 7.9 per cent to 7, 819 in the last month, while sales of the Indigo registered a growth of 5.8 per cent at 2,881. the company sold 2,036 utility vehicles "" a growth of 1.7 per cent.

The company's passenger vehicles segment recorded a 6.4 per cent growth in sales to 12,736 vehicles in April 2005 compared with 11,976 vehicles in April 2004.