MUL claims consistent volume sales

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN 2. Maruti Udyog Ltd. (MUL) today said it secured 70 per cent of the market share in December by selling 22,799 vehicles in the domestic market and 24,770 units overall. The company achieved consistent volumes despite an overall declining trend in the domestic car market, stated a MUL news release. In the competitive B segment, Zen, Alto and Wagon-R together captured 60 per cent of the segment.

The domestic car market continued to be sluggish as total car sales were 35 per cent lower than in the same month last year. Compared to November, the drop in sales was to the tune of 25 per cent. Owing to bi-annual maintenance closure from December 24 to January 1, production took place for just 17 days.

The sales figures in units are as follows : Maruti 800 - 8,340, Omni - 3,865, Alto - 3,937, Zen - 4,695, Wagon-R - 961, Esteem - 886 and Baleno - 115. In addition, the company sold 264 Gypsy cars and exported 1,707.

PTI reports:

Higher sales for Honda Siel

Honda Siel Cars India (HSCIL) has posted a 10.6 per cent rise in sales at 728 units during December over 658 units sold in the same month last year. Sales, however, dropped by a marginal 1.2 per cent compared to 737 cars sold in November 2000, according to a company spokesperson.

Cumulative sales (April-December 2000) stood at 7,237 units, up 13.4 per cent, against 6,380 units in the period an year ago. The spokesperson attributed the higher sales to increased demand for the recently launched 'Vtec' version of its mid- size City car.

Marginal rise in HM's Lancer sales

Hindustan Motors, a C. K. Birla group company, announced a marginal 0.6 per cent rise in sales of the premium mid-size 'HM/Mitsubishi Lancer' car at 504 units during December.

The company sold 501 units in the same month in 1999, according to a company spokesperson.

Cumulative sales, however, dropped by 0.2 per cent to 5,028 units during April-December 2000 from 5,039 units sold in the period an year ago, the spokesperson said.

Sales of Lancer car went up by 4.8 per cent during 2000 to 7,993 cars from 7,621 units in the previous year. Lancer car is manufactured in collaboration with Mitsubishi Motor Corporation of Japan.

Toyota sales rise 26.4 p.c.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd (TKMPL) reported a 26.4 per cent rise in sales of its multi-purpose-vehicle 'Qualis' in December and said it has crossed its sales target of 21,000 units for 2000.

The company sold 2,452 units during the reference month compared to 1,940 units in the previous month, a senior company official told PTI.. TKMPL has achieved sales of 21,852 units during January-December 2000 against its target of 21,000 units, he said.

The company is a joint venture between Japanese auto giant Toyota motor corporation and the Kirloskar group.

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