Car sales down 6.3 p.c. in Apr.-Jan.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 25. Led by market leader Maruti Udyog (MUL), passenger car sales grew by 7 per cent in January as compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, scooter sales continued to plummet while motorcycle sales increased but not adequately to make up for the shortfall specially by the scooter sector market leader Bajaj Auto.

As was the case with two-wheelers, sales of commercial vehicles also showed a mixed trend. Medium and heavy commercial vehicles sold less than in January last year while sales of light commercial vehicles increased. Three wheeler sales also declined marginally, according to figures for the automobile sector released here today by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Despite a slight rise in January sales, the overall situation in the passenger car market continued to remain cheerless. Sales in the first 10 months of the current fiscal fell by 6.29 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

MUL sold 35,844 cars in January which was a big improvement over the 27,701 units in January 2000. Maruti's cumulative sales, however, declined to 2.75 lakh units from 3.23 lakhs during the corresponding period last year. Only two other car companies - Ford India and Hyundai - managed to emulate Maruti in January sales.

Hyundai's sales went up to 9,066 units from 8,655 units while Ford sold 1,555 cars this January as against 1,090 units in the same month last year. Daewoo, Hyundai's competitor for the second spot in the mid-size segment after MUL, did not report the January sales figures to SIAM. Other companies such as Honda, Fiat, Hindustan Motors and Telco saw their sales dipping. Mercedes managed a minor improvement by selling three cars more than the 33 sold in January 2000.

The situation in the commercial vehicle category, said to reflect the state of the economy, sent confusing signals. Ashok Leyland and Telco, the two major players in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment, sold less in January this year. As a result, total sales were down by over 10 per cent to 8,281 units from 9,270 vehicles. The overall situation was also on similar lines. As many as 65,874 heavy vehicles were sold in the first 10 months as compared to 85,635 units during the same period last year.

Led by Telco, light commercial vehicles sales, on the other hand, increased by almost 10 per cent. Eicher and Swaraj Mazda sold more while Bajaj Tempo and Mahindra & Mahindra sold fewer vehicles. In all, 1.15 lakh LCVs were sold in the first 10 months as against 1.31 lakhs during the same period last year. In addition to consolidating its position in the domestic market, Telco also exported 568 units in January 2001 as compared to 320 units in January last year. Sales figures in the two-wheeler category indicated the tremendous churning in this sector particularly with regard to motorcycles and scooters. Only 66,834 scooters were sold in January this year as against 1.13 lakhs last year. On the other hand, 1.90 lakh motorcycles were bought as against 1.69 lakhs in the same period last year.

In the scooter category, the worst hit was the market leader Bajaj Auto. Sales of LML and Maharashtra Scooters were also affected. Kinetic and TVS-Suzuki managed a minor improvement in their sales. However, Bajaj with sales of 29,000 scooters remained far ahead of its challengers. Overall, scooter sales in April-January 2001 were 7.53 lakhs as compared to 10.40 lakhs in the same period last year.

In the motorcycle category, Hero Honda broke away to become the undisputed leader by a big margin. The company sold over 90,000 bikes in January as against 40,723 units by Bajaj Auto. In fact, the motorcycle category also brought gloom to Bajaj Auto - it sold 40,723 units in January this year as against 43,841 units in the same month last year. In the first 10 months, the half-a- dozen motorcycle companies sold 17.67 lakh units as compared to 14.21 lakhs between April and January last year.

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