Car sales in India grew for the fourth successive month, posting an increase of 15.16 percent in August, prompting industry body SIAM to believe about a slow turnaround after two years of slump.
According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), domestic car sales in August this year stood at 1,53,758 units as compared to 1,33,513 units in the same month of 2013.
“The auto industry is seeing a gradual increase and even the cumulative numbers are seeing improvements month-on-month …We can see a slow turnaround happening,” SIAM Director General
Vishnu Mathur told reporters here.
In the April-August period this fiscal, car sales have grown by 5.24 percent to 7,35,873 units as against 6,99,263 units in the year-ago period.
He, however, said the fundamentals have not changed dramatically although the process of economic recovery has started which could have positive impact on overall sales.
“Sentiments have played a big role in car sales growth as interest rates are still high and companies are still offering hefty discounts,” Mathur said.
New model launches such as Honda Mobilio and Hyundai Elite i20 have also helped in increase of sales during the month.
In August, car market leader Maruti Suzuki India posted a growth of 30.43 percent in domestic sales at 82,823 units as against 63,499 units in the same month last year.
Rival Hyundai Motor India saw its sales grow by 18.78 percent to 33,593 units as compared to 28,281 units in the same month last year.
Honda Cars India witnessed a growth of 27.39 percent in domestic sales at 11,166 units as against 8,765 units in the year-ago month.
Homegrown auto major Tata Motors sales were down 6.07 percent to 8,229 units as against 8,761 units in August 2013, while utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra’s sales during the month fell by 6.42 percent to 13,911 units as against 14,866 units last year.
Car sales in India had fallen for the second consecutive fiscal in 2013-14 with a drop of 4.65 percent as the auto industry continued to struggle with demand slump due to a sluggish economy.
According to SIAM, motorcycle sales during the month grew by 14.45 percent to 9,10,312 units as against 7,95,411 units in August last year.
Market leader Hero MotoCorp saw its sales grow by 23.67 percent to 4,88,739 units as against 3,95,180 units in the same month last year.
