Country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Thursday reported a 20.8 per cent increase in total sales in December at 1,09,791 units.
The car maker had reported sales of 90,924 units in the same month last year. Following the release of strong sales numbers, shares of Maruti were trading 0.50 per cent higher at Rs 3,344 in an otherwise weak general market.
The company said its domestic sales increased by 13.3 per cent during the month to 98,109 units as against 86,613 units in December, 2013.
Exports during the month rose by nearly three-fold to 11,682 units compared to 4,311 units in December last year, MSI said in a statement.
Sales of mini segment cars, including, Alto, A-Star and WagonR declined by 9.6 per cent to 34,625 units as compared to 38,286 units in the year-ago month, the statement said.
Sales of the compact segment cars comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire rose by 23 per cent to 41,532 units in December this year as against 33,766 units last year, the company said in a statement.
Sales of compact sedan Dzire Tour surged over two-fold during the month under review at 1,676 units as against 832 units in December, 2013.
The company sold 3,731 units of mid-sized sedan Ciaz, which was launched in October.
It had sold 271 units of SX4 sedan in December 2013.
There was no sale of premium sedan Kizashi during the month.
Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, rose by 12.2 per cent at 5,774 units in December this year from 5146 units in the corresponding month last year.
Sales of vans, Omni and Eeco, rose by 29.6 per cent to 10,771 units in December this year as compared to 8,312 units in the same period of previous year.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor also reported 7.97 per cent increase in total sales to 13,628 units in December 2014. It had sold 12,622 units in the same month of the previous year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.
In the domestic market, TKM sold 11,740 units in December 2014, as compared to 10,648 units in December 2013, up 10.25 per cent.
The company exported 1,888 units of Etios last month. TKM Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing) N Raja said: "In continuation of the November upswing, we have registered growth in the domestic and overall sales in December as well.
This momentum can be attributed to the year ending." On the discontinuation of reduced excise duty, he said the company will study the market reaction and announce the price revision of its products accordingly.
"We would have expected the government to continue the excise duty concessions as this was supporting the revival of the auto industry after a rather sluggish two years," Raja said.
The company hoped that government would give greater consideration for the next fiscal Budget on structural reforms for the auto sector which is an important part of the "Make in India" campaign, he added.
Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) today reported 21 per cent jump in total sales at 59,365 units in December 2014.
The company had sold 49,078 units in the same month last year, it said in a statement. In the domestic market, Hyundai sold 32,504 units last month as compared to 28,345 units in December 2013, up 14.7 per cent.
During the month, Hyundai's exports increased 29.6 per cent to 26,861 units as against 20,733 units in the same period last year.
"In the challenging market conditions of CY 2014 Hyundai did all time record high sales of 4.11 lakh units with all time high projected market share of 21.8 per cent in passenger cars," HMIL Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said.
