Car Sales drop down in September 2018 due to rocketing fuel prices, floods

The Car sales have dropped down in the month of September due to rocketing fuel prices and also due to monsoon floods in some parts of the country. The country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India has reported a marginal decline in total sales while its arch rival Hyundai recording a flat growth during the month. Maruti Suzuki India sold to 1,62,290 units in September as against 1,63,071 units in the year ago period. However, its domestic sales edged up 1.4 % to 1,53,550 units from 1,51,400 units in September last year. 

Sales of small cars, including Alto and WagonR, witnessed a 9.1% decline to 34,971 units during the month. The auto major further said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Dzire and Baleno rose by a mere 1.7 per cent to 74,011 units last month. However, there was a silver lining in that sales of mid-sized sedan Ciaz went up 11.5% growth to 6,246 units. And those of utility vehicles, including Ertiga, SCross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza increased by 8.7 per cent to 21,639 units in September.

The Japanese Car Maker Toyota reported flat sales in the Indian market while its total sales contracted due to a fall in exports. Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra were able to notch up a low single digit growth of 7% and 2% respectively during September. Ford Motor, on the other hand, recorded a decline in growth in the domestic market even as its exports shot up during the month. Maruti sold to 1,62,290 units in September as against 1,63,071 units in the year ago period. However, the company’s domestic sales edged up 1.4 % to 1,53,550 units from 1,51,400 units in September last year, the company said in a statement.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Monday reported 1 per cent increase in total sales at 62,757 units in September. However, the company’s domestic sales declined 4.5 per cent to 47,781 units last month. Exports grew 22.2 per cent in September to 14,976 units as against 12,257 units in the year-ago month which covered up for the decline in domestic sales.

“Despite some ongoing market challenges, we expect this festival season will induce positive sentiment among customers and the industry would witness a strong positive growth,” Hyundai Motor India national sales head Vikas Jain said. Tata Motors reported a 7 per cent growth at 18,429 units for passenger vehicles sales. Motors President Passenger Vehicles Business Mayank Pareek said the growth for the overall PV industry is stressed.Early indications have been that the industry has declined in September this year. But we recorded a growth on the back of continued demand of our new generation vehicles, he added. The company expects sales to pick up this festive season and to boost its customer morale, it is launching four new products, Pareek said.

Utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 2% increase in total sales at 55,022 units in September. In the domestic market, sales were up one per cent at 51,268 units last month while exports increased 17 per cent at 3,754 units. September has been muted for passenger vehicles due to factors such as low consumer buying sentiment, high fuel prices and the effects of monsoon in many parts of the country, M&M president automotive sector Rajan Wadhera said. Toyota Kirloskar Motor recorded a 4.39% decline in total sales at 13,078 units in September. Domestic sales during the month stood at 12,512, up 1.43% over the same month last year. Customer demand in the auto industry has temporarily dampened owing to rising fuel prices, floods in different parts of the country and impact of currency weakness, the company’s deputy managing director N Raja said.

Ford India reported 20.95 per cent increase in total sales at 19,988 units in September against 16,525 units in the same month last year.