May auto sales: The winners and losers

Hyundai May sales up 2.1%

Hyundai Motor India Ltd on Saturday reported 2.1 per cent increase in its total sales in May at 56,856 units as against 55,669 in the same month last year.

The company's domestic sales stood at 32,102 units during the month, up 0.3 per cent from 32,010 units in May 2012, HMIL said in a statement.

Exports during the month were up by 4.6 per cent to 24,754 units from 23,659 units in the same month last year, it added.

Commenting on the sales, HMIL senior vice-president, sales and marketing Rakesh Srivastava, said: "Hyundai has been able to maintain positive growth and will gain in market share in a market that is at the near bottom level and is expected to move into positive growth in the coming months as the demand for the petrol cars is improving."

Describing the market situation as "challenging times" the company has been able to increase export volumes and we continued to get strong demand from the non-European markets.

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Maruti sales down 14%

The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India on Saturday reported 14.4 percent decline in total sales in May this year at 84,677 units.

The company had posted total sales of 98,884 units in the corresponding month last year.

For May 2013, the city-based firm reported 13 per cent decline in domestic sales at 77,821 units, over 89,478 units in May 2012, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

MSI's exports last month went down by 27.1 per cent to 6,856 units from 9,406 units in the year-ago period, the company said.

However, sales of the company's mini segment cars, including the M800, A-Star, Alto and WagonR, rose by 5.1 per cent to 31,427 units from 29,895 units in May 2012.

In the compact segment (comprising the Estilo, Swift and Ritz models), MSI witnessed 29.4 per cent fall in sales at 17,147 units as against 24,290 units in the same month a year ago.

Sales of MSI's DZiRE model fell by 2.5 per cent to 17,265 units from 17,707 units in the corresponding period a year ago.

The company's mid-sized sedan SX4's sales increased by 24.2 per cent to 503 units from 405 units in the year-ago month, MSI said.

Luxury sedan Kizashi witnessed no buyer last month compared to sales of 12 units in May 2012, it added.

Sales of utility vehicles went down by 44.3 per cent to 4,307 units from 7,734 units in the year-ago month. Sales of vans dipped by 24 per cent to 7,172 units from 9,435 units in the same month last year.

MSI's total passenger car sales declined by 8.3 per cent to 66,342 units in May from 72,309 units in the same month in 2012, it added.

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GM India sales up 40%

General Motors reported 39.82 per cent increase in sales at 8,500 units in May 2013.

The company had sold 6,079 units in the same month of 2012, General Motors India said in a statement.

The sales during May 2013 include 1,506 units of Beat, 2,851 units of Sail, 2,177 units of Enjoy and 1,475 units of Tavera, it added.

"We were able to register the 40 per cent growth only because of the good response to our newly launched vehicles - Chevrolet SAIL and Chevrolet Enjoy," GM India vice-president P Balendran said.

The company does not expect the market to pick up in the coming months as economic activities have "almost come to a standstill and the market remains completely depressed due to negative sentiments and other structural bottlenecks," he added.

Probably a good monsoon can bring in some cheers to the market, Balendran said.

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Toyota Kirloskar sales down 35%

Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported 35.33 per cent decline in its domestic car sales at 10,023 units in May, 2013.

The company had sold 15,501 units in the corresponding month of last year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.

During the month, the company exported 2,479 units of Etios series to South Africa, and hence the total sales registered in May this year stood at 12,502 units.

Commenting on sales, TKM deputy managing director and COO (marketing and commercial) Sandeep Singh said: "The market continues to be sluggish. We have corrected the dealer's inventory levels and have been able to bring it down to less than 30 days."

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Renault sales jump 13-fold

France-based auto major Renault reported 13-fold increase in sales in India in May at 6,013 units.

The company had sold 438 units during the same month of previous year, Renault India, subsidiary of Renault SAS, France, said in a statement.

Renault said majority of sales was contributed from its highly popular Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Duster selling 5,146 units in May, followed by premium sedan Scala, registering 670 units.

Sales of company's hatchback Pulse was 410 units last month while luxury sedan Fluence and SUV Koleos comprised 71 units and three units, respectively.

"In spite of challenging market conditions, Renault continues to pursue a strong focus on growth in India, with an aim of at least doubling last year's sales in 2013," Renault

India, executive director (marketing and sales), Sumit Sawhney said.

Renault India in association with Japan-based Nissan currently has a manufacturing facility at Oragadam near Chennai. The plant capacity is 400,000 units per annum and Renault India currently has 100 dealer outlets across the country, the statement added.

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Mahindra & Mahindra May sales down 1.2%

Auto-maker Mahindra & Mahindra reported 1.2 per cent decrease in its total sales at 43,460 units in May 2013.

The company had sold 43,989 units in the same month in 2012, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said in a statement.

In May this year, M&M's domestic sales stood at 42,104 units as against 39,938 units in the same month last year, up 5.4 per cent.

Total sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, stood at 22,244 units as against 21,154 units in May 2012, up 5.15 per cent. Sales of the company's commercial vehicles, including Gio and Maxximo mini-trucks, registered 12 per cent growth, at 14,848 units, it said.

The company, however, said sales of its three-wheelers declined by 7 per cent to 4,028 units during May, 2013 from 4,320 units in the same month last year. Commercial vehicle sales from Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd stood at 984 units during the month as against 1,210 units in the same month a year ago, a fall of 19 per cent.

M&M's exports declined by 67 per cent to 1,356 units during the month from 4,051 units in May 2012.

"We have achieved an overall growth of 5 per cent in our domestic volumes during May 2013 for our automotive sector, in spite of a challenging environment. The growth in capital investment and private spending have also slowed down which is a cause for concern," M&M chief executive (automotive division) Pravin Shah said.

He said the company was cautiously optimistic of the situation and do hoped that on the back of the new product launches, the auto industry will rev up sooner than later.