Car sales decline marginally in May

During May, Maruti Suzuki's domestic car sales were up 2.59 per cent at 87,402 units as against 85,190 units in the same month last year.

Passenger car sales in India declined marginally in May as some of the demand shifted from sedans to the newly launched utility vehicles (UVs) amid continuing slowdown in the rural areas impacting sales of entry-level hatchbacks.

According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Thursday, domestic passenger car sales stood at 1,58,996 units in May as against 1,60,371 units in the same month last year.

"Car sales were slightly negative last month as some of the sedan sales are getting transfered to the utility vehicle segment which saw launches of various new compact SUVs," SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur said.

Moreover, the continued slowdown in rural market have impacted small car sales. Passenger car segment has also been impacted by shift from diesel to petrol cars, he added.

During last month, total passenger vehicle sales rose by 6.26 per cent to 2,31,640 units as against 2,17,984 units in the year ago period.

"The utility vehicles led by Hyundai Creta and other models like Maruti Vitara Brezza and Mahindra TUV300 and KUV100 have fuelled the growth in the overall passenger vehicle segment," Mathur said.

Utility vehicles grew by 35.88 per cent to 58,793 units in May as against 43,269 units in the same month of the previous year.

During May, Maruti Suzuki's domestic car sales were up 2.59 per cent at 87,402 units as against 85,190 units in the same month last year.

Rival Hyundai Motor saw a decline of 8.21 per cent at 34,262 units as against 37,328 units.

Honda Cars India's sales also declined 38.89 per cent to 7,415 units as against 12,134 last year. Tata Motors' car sales were at 7,787 units in May this year compared with 9,176  units in the year-ago month, down 15.13 per cent. Renault India's car sales zoomed to 5,849 units during the month as against just 224 units last year.

Maruti Suzuki's passenger vehicle sales in May were up 10.55 per cent at 1,13,162 units, while that of rival Hyundai Motor India were up by 10.42 per cent to 41,351 units.

Homegrown utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra's passenger vehicles sales were up 8.27 per cent at 19,635 units while Honda Cars India saw a decline of 25.89 per cent decline in passenger vehicles sales during the month at 9,954 units.

Tata Motors saw 26.74 per cent dip in sales of passenger vehicles at 9,456 units. Renault India saw a massive 131.69 per cent jump in passenger vehicle sales at 8,343 units.

Total two-wheeler sales in May rose 9.75 per cent to 15,15,556 units.

Motorcycle sales rose 3.34 per cent to 9,85,158 units from 9,53,311 units a year earlier.

"Growth continues to be impacted by slowdown in the rural sales. From a growth of 16.24 per cent in April, it has come down to 3.34 per cent in May," Mathur said.

He added that the industry is still far from its peak performance.

"In none of the categories we have reached the peak levels we saw during the 2011-12 period," Mathur noted.

In the motorcycle segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp's sales were at 5,01,009 units as against 5,09,427 units in the year-ago month, down 1.65 per cent.

Rival Bajaj Auto saw 5.36 per cent increase in sales at 1,79,822 units compared with 1,70,668 units last year.

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India's (HMSI) bike sales were at 1,47,431 units as against 1,38,150 units in the corresponding month last year, up 6.71 per cent.

In scooter segment, total sales were up 24.97 per cent at 4,54,992 units as against 3,64,073 units a year ago.

Market leader HMSI posted sales of 2,68,429 units as against 2,15,259 units in the same month last year, a growth of 24.7 per cent.

Hero MotoCorp's scooter sales also jumped 31.59 per cent to 66,846 units compared with 50,795 units. Chennai-based TVS Motor Company saw its scooter sales at 58,947 units as against 51,388 units in the year-ago month, up 14.7 per cent.

SIAM said sales of commercial vehicles rose 16.89 per cent to 57,089 units in May.

Vehicle sales across categories registered an increase of 9.89 per cent to 18,50,764 units from 16,84,263 units in May 2015. 

Photograph: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com