SIAM Q1 data show rise in car, two wheeler sales

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 18. Most sectors of the automobile industry barring passenger cars and two-wheelers recorded negative growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal, according to figures for April to June released today by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Aided by a better showing by Maruti, Hyundai and Ford, 1.48 lakh cars were sold in the first quarter as compared with 1.43 lakh units sold during the same period last year. The leader Maruti Udyog sold 84,748 units, thus accounting for over 57 per cent of the market share. Hyundai Motor India was second by a long margin, selling 23,809 units in the first quarter. It was followed by Telco and Ford India, respectively. The troubled Daewoo sold only a quarter of the number of calls sold by its Korean competitor Hyundai.

Sales were higher by 30.4 per cent in this highly competitive segment in June As compared with the same month last year. Maruti sold 26,129 cars, thus accounting for 54 per cent of the market share. Hyundai was second with sales of 8,472 units, followed by another `B' category car manufacturer Telco which sold about 5,000 units. Ford India also gave a good showing, selling close to 3,000 units.

In the multi-utility segment, sales fell marginally in the first quarter as compared with last year's corresponding quarter. Mahindra & Mahindra sold 12,256 units, accounting for 44 per cent of the market for MUVs as compared with 13,712 units or 48.6 per cent market share. The gainer essentially was Toyota Kirloskar whose `Qualis' continued to gather popularity. Telco, meaning basically the Sumo and the Safari, saw a drop in sales while Bajaj Tempo and Hindustan Motor continued to be marginal players.

In June, 8,894 MUVs were sold as compared with 9,771 units. Most companies, barring Bajaj, HM and Maruti, saw their sales declining during June as compared with the same month last year.

The medium and commercial vehicles sector saw a 9 per cent drop in sales in the first quarter as compared with the same period last year. While sales of Telco continued to decline, Ashok Leyland also suffered a slight setback. The Tatas sold close to 4,000 units in June accounting for 62 per cent of the market share as compared to 4,068 last June while Ashok Leyland sold 2,433 units (38 per cent) as compared to 2,714 units in the same month last year.

In the comparatively competitive light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment, sales dropped by a hefty 25 per cent in the first quarter. All companies, barring Swaraj Mazda and Eicher Motors, saw their sales slipping. Telco continued to be the market leader by a wide margin but its sales fell from 8,634 units in Q1 of 2000-01 to 5,825 in the first quarter of the current fiscal. However, three out of six LCV makers - Eicher Motors, Bajaj and Swaraj Mazda - gained marginally but the increase in sales by these marginal players was inadequate to offset the fall in sales by the Tatas. June also witnessed a decline in the fortunes of LCV makers.

The two-wheeler segment showed a mixed trend. While sales of scooters and mopeds declined, the demand for motorcycles continued to increase. A total of 9.57 lakh two-wheelers were sold in the first quarter as compared to 9.35 lakhs in the same period last year. Of this, motocycles were 6.11 lakh units (5 lakhs), scooters 2.40 lakh units (2.58 lakhs) and mopeds 1.05 lakh units (1.77 lakhs) in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

In June, two-wheeler sales increased by 6 per cent to 3.24 lakh vehicles as compared with 3.06 lakh units last June. The increase was mainly due to a much better performance by the motorcycle segment which more than made up for the decline in moped and scooter sales.

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