Automotive Dealer - india new car sales march 2012, Maruti Suzuki India car sales march 2012, Hyundai car sales march 2012 ; India’s top car makers posted higher March auto sales as customers bought in anticipation of this month’s price increases and as demand for diesel vehicles continued to grow.
Several auto makers have recently increased vehicle prices after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on March 16 raised the base excise tax on most Indian-made goods, including automobiles, to 12% from 10%.
Sales at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. gained for a third straight month, touching 125,952 vehicles, up 3% from a year earlier. Local sales for India’s biggest car maker by sales increased 2% to 112,724 units and exports jumped 15% to 13,228 vehicles.
It was the auto maker’s best-ever monthly sales performance, thanks to demand for models such as the Ritz and Swift hatchbacks and the Swift DZire sedan, which are also available in diesel variants. Sales of gasoline cars such as the Alto and WagonR fell.
Consumer preference is shifting toward diesel vehicles as prices of the fuel are regulated by the government, making it cheaper than gasoline. Overall demand has been hit by rising interest rates and fuel prices.
Maruti anticipates a 6% fall in sales of gasoline models in the new fiscal year that started on April 1, its chairman R.C. Bhargava said on March 24.
Hyundai Motor Co., the second-ranked car maker in India, sold 59,229 vehicles in March, up 7% from a year earlier.
Local sales grew 23% to 31,882 units. But exports fell 16% to 23,730 units as more production facilities were utilized for the domestic market, said Arvind Saxena, director of marketing and sales at Hyundai’s local unit, which makes car models such as the i10, i20 and Verna.
Ford Motor Co.’s local unit, which makes the Figo small car and Fiesta sedan, said it posted its highest-ever monthly volume of 12,148 units in March.
The local unit of General Motors Co., meanwhile, recorded a 13% increase in March sales to 10,588 vehicles, helped by robust sales of its Chevrolet Beat hatchback and the Tavera utility vehicle.
Sunday, Tata Motors Ltd. said it sold 100,414 vehicles in March, up 20%, while Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s biggest sport-utility vehicle maker sold 47,001 units, up 25%.
In the two-wheeler segment, sales of market leader Hero MotoCorp Ltd. rose 2.4% in March to 528,290 vehicles.
Pawan Munjal, Hero MotoCorp’s managing director and chief executive, said the company is set to start exports to markets in Africa, Latin and Central America in a few months.
He also said the company is expanding capacity at its plants to make 7.0 million vehicles a year and will also announce plans later this year about building new factories.
Two- and three-wheeler maker TVS Motor Co. Monday said sales fell 4% to 182,527 vehicles.
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