Led by market leader Maruti Udyog and Tata Motors, car sales started the New Year on a healthy note rising 8.3 per cent at 84,235 units despite segment heavyweight Hyundai witnessing a sharp 20 per cent decline in numbers.
According to figures released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Maruti, Tata Motors, Ford and Honda pushed the sales up, despite six of the 11 carmakers witnessing slackening demand. In fact, Hyundai's monthly sales fell from 14,540 units in January 2005 to 11,631 units last month.
Car sales in the ten months of this fiscal have been relatively subdued at 7,07,901 units, a single-digit growth of 5.9 per cent over 6,68,382 units in the corresponding period last fiscal, SIAM said.
On the two-wheeler side, motorcycles continued their strong run in 2006 as sales jumped 14.6 per cent in January at 4,99,333 units against 4,35,665 units in the same month last year.
The charge was led by segment heavyweights Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto, the latter witnessing a whopping 31 per cent growth in numbers.
Motorcycle sales in the April 2005-January 2006 period have grown 16.5 per cent at 47,81,917 units against 41,02,939 units in the ten months of last fiscal, SIAM said.
On the other hand, scooter/scooterettee sales, which rose 11.9 per cent in January at 78,933 units (70,490), are down 3.4 per cent in the ten months ending January 31, 2006 at 7,53,770 units.
Overall two-wheeler sales, comprising bikes, scooters and mopeds, were up 12.8 per cent in the domestic market in the ten months of this fiscal at 58,08,258 units against 51,49,313 units in the corresponding period last fiscal.
Commercial vehicles sales, which dipped six per cent in December, rebounded strongly in January, rising 14.8 per cent at 34,037 units against 29,634 units in the corresponding month last year.
Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland kept the momentum going high in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment where sales grew 12.5 per cent at 21,009 units (18,666). On the other hand, light commercial vehicles sales were up 18.7 per cent at 13,028 units against 10,968 units in January 2005.
With demand slowing down, commercial vehicle sales in the April 2005-January 2006 managed a single-digit growth at 2,71,979 units, a rise of 7.5 per cent over 2,52,919 units in the corresponding period last fiscal, SIAM said.
M&HCVs have been the most affected with near flat sales at 1,58,255 units against 1,56,812 units in the ten months of last fiscal. LCVs proved to be the segment drivers in commercial vehicles as numbers here rose 18.3 per cent to 1,13,724 units from 96,107 units in April 2004-January 2005.
On the three-wheeler side, a sharp rise in demand for passenger carriers pushed overall sales up by 26.6 per cent at 34,457 units in January 2006 against 27,215 units. In fact, passenger carrier sales jumped by as much as 43 per cent at 20,573 units against 14,344 units in January 2005.
Three-wheeler sales in the ten months of this fiscal are up 15.6 per cent at 2,88,527 units against 2,49,392 units in the corresponding period last fiscal, SIAM said.
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