Car companies report surge in sales in April

Several car makers and a two-wheeler maker on Monday said they closed the first month of the current fiscal with volume growth as compared to April last year.

Leading the group was Maruti Suzuki India, which reported a 19.5% growth, selling a total of 151,215 units last month up from 126,569 units in April 2016.

For April, domestic sales edged by 23.4% to 144,492 units (including 411 units of light commercial vehicle Super Carry) from 117,045 units.

However, exports of the automobile major declined by 29.4%, with 6,723 units shipped out last month, down from 9,524 units in April 2016.

Segment-wise, sales of passenger cars was up by 26.6% to 109,505 units against 86,481 units in April 2016.

The company's passenger car segment comprises brands like Alto, WagonR, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, Dzire, Dzire Tour and Ciaz.

Besides, sales of utility vehicles, which comprises brands like Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross and Vitara Brezza, rose by 28.6% to 20,638 units.

In contrast, off-take in the van segment, which includes brands like Omni and Eeco, decreased by 4% to 13,938 units.

Total domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 144,081 units -- up 23.1% -- from 117,045 units in April 2016.

On the other hand, the second-largest car maker in India, Hyundai Motor India, reported a 3.6% growth in sales to 56,368 units in April as compared to 54,420 units in April last year.

Domestic sales stood at 44,758 units, up 5.7% from 42,351 units in April 2016.

"Hyundai, with a volume of 44,758 units, continued its growth momentum on a strong base of last year and continued strong performance on volume," company Director (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said.

The carmaker, however, said its exports declined by 3.8% to 11,610 units compared to 12,069 in April last year.

The Japanese-Indian joint venture Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported a surge of 52% in domestic sales during April 2017.

The company`s total domestic sales stood at 12,948 units of the Etios series as compared to 8,529 units sold during April 2016.

It exported 1,109 units of the Etios series as against 978 units exported in the like month last year.

"We have been able to sustain a robust growth in April 2017. This has been propelled by the overwhelming response the new Fortuner received," said N. Raja, Director and Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing.

Similarly, Nissan Motor India's deliveries surged 39% in April 2017 to 4,217 vehicles from 3,028 in April 2016.

"We usher in the new fiscal year with robust growth in terms of sales and positive sentiment," said Arun Malhotra, Managing Director of Nissan India.

But commercial vehicle and car maker Tata Motors closed last month with a lower overall sales as sales of commercial vehicles were hit due to a court ban on sales of BS III emission norms-complaint vehicles.

Last month, Tata Motors passenger vehicles in the domestic market sold 12,827 units, a growth of 23%, over April 2016.

According to Tata Motors, its commercial vehicle sales in the domestic market totalled 16,017 units, down by 36% from April 2016.

"This is an unusual decline, in exceptional circumstances," the company said.

Tata Motors passenger and commercial vehicle total sales (including exports) in April 2017 totalled 30,972 vehicles, a de-growth of 21% over 39,389 vehicles sold in April 2016.

Its domestic sales of commercial and passenger vehicles for April 2017 stood at 28,844 units, down from 35,604 units in April 2016.

In the two-wheeler segment, Eicher Motors Ltd logged 25 % volume growth, selling 60,142 units (domestic 58,564 units, exports 1,578) last month as against sales of 48,197 units (domestic 47,037, exports 1,160).

Yamaha Motor however reported 7.66% rise in sales at 68,827 units in April.