Auto sales stay on pace in April (Roundup)

New Delhi/Chennai, May 1 (IANS) Indian automobile manufacturers Tuesday reported a steady sales growth in April. Exports, however, slowed down a bit during the month.

Mahindra & Mahindra reported 27 percent jump in sales at 40,719 units for April, 2012. The company had sold 32,090 units in the same month last year. In the domestic market, the company registered 29 percent rise in sales to 39,299 units, compared to 30,349 units in the year-ago period, M&M said in a statement.

Total sales of passenger car market leader Maruti Suzuki increased by 3.4 percent last month and stood at 100,415 units from 97,155 units sold in the corresponding month of last year.

Domestic sales grew by 3.6 percent in the month under review at 90,255 units from 87,144 units sold in April 2012. Exports rose by 1.5 percent at 10,160 units as against 10,011 units shipped out in the corresponding period of 2011.

However, the total passenger car sales in April declined by 1.3 percent at 72,939 units from 73,905 units sold in the corresponding month of last year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor, a Japanese-Indian car joint venture (JV), also began the fiscal 2012-13 on a positive note logging 49 percent sales growth last month over the same period in 2011.

The company sold 14,378 units in April 2012 as against 9,681 units sold in April 2011.

'The Etios series, Innova, Fortuner continue to register growth in April. However, the market sentiments seem to be low with the enquiry levels gone down across the industry,' said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director, marketing.

Another Indo-Japanese JV, Honda Siel Cars, posted a growth of 252 percent last month with sales of 7,075 units as against 2,012 units in the corresponding month of 2011.

However, Tata Motors' sales declined by seven percent in its total sales, including exports, which stood at 60,086 units in April from 64,383 units sold in the corresponding period of last year.

The company's domestic sales including commercial and passenger vehicles for the period under review declined five percent at 57,305 units from 60,125 units sold in the corresponding period of last year.

The company reported a decline of 35 percent in exports in the month under review at 2,781 units as compared to 4,258 units shipped out in April, 2011.

Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp reported its best-ever monthly sales for last month at 5,51,557 units from 5,17,099 units sold in April 2011. The company's previous highest monthly sales figure stood at 5,49,625 units in September, 2011.

'It is indeed heartening to begin the new financial year with our best-ever monthly sales. We have made a good beginning with this strong performance and are pleased with the continuing trend of over half a million unit sales every month for the past nine months,' said Anil Dua, senior vice-president (marketing and sales), Hero MotoCorp.

The other two-wheeler maker, TVS Motor Company, closed April with a four percent growth in its total sales, including exports, at 174,455 units against 167,744 units sold in April 2011.

In domestic market, the company registered a seven percent growth in sales volume as compared to the corresponding period of 2011.

Suzuki Motorcycle reported a 4.34 percent rise in sales for last month which stood at 30,635 units from 29,362 units in April, 2011.

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) reported a sales growth of 46 percent at 198,831 units.