Vehicle sales touch
record high in Jan
BS REPORTER
New Delhi, 9 February
ehicle sales in In-
V dia hit an all-time
high in January,
but the growth
rate moderated
amid rising interest rates and
vehicle cost.
According to data released
by the Society of Indian Au-
tomobile Manufacturers (Siam)
today, domestic vehicle sales
grew 18.69 per cent to
1,322,979 units from 1,114,692
units in January 2010.
Domestic car sales rose 26.3
per cent to 184,332 units from
145,971 units a year earlier.
Sugato Sen, senior director,
Siam, said, “This is the high-
est-ever monthly car sales,
beating the previous highest
in October last year. It is main-
ly due to increased off-take as
a result of the purchases post-
poned in December.” In Oc-
tober 2010, total car sales stood
at 182,992 units.
He said the moderation in
the growth rate that the in-
dustry had been witnessing
was increasingly becoming
visible. “The highest growth
rate of overall sales this fis-
cal was seen in October at 45
per cent. From that, we are
now coming down to just
about 18 per cent. High in-
SMOOTH RIDE
Category Jan 2010 Jan 2011
Passenger vehicles 1,87,671
Two-wheelers 8,34,343 9,80,752
Commercial vehicles 53,963
Three-wheelers 38,715
Source: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers
terest rates, lack of liquidi-
ty in the market and increase
in commodity prices will pose
challenges for the industry
going ahead.” A high growth
rate of over 30 per cent was
unsustainable, he said, adding
what the industry was seeing
now was the moderation and
it was time to take note.
Last month, Maruti Suzu-
ki India Ltd (MSIL), sold
100,422 units in the domes-
tic market, 23.8 per cent more
than January last year. Hyundai
Motor India sold 30,306 units
during the period, an increase
of 2.4 per cent. Tata Motors’
sales grew 111.6 per cent to
34,688 units.
Two-wheeler sales in Jan-
uary jumped 17.55 per cent
to 980,752 units from 834,343
units a year earlier. While mo-
torcycle sales grew 15 per
cent to 747,818 units, sales of
scooters increased 29.6 per
cent to 180,072 units.
% increase
2,33,994 24.68
17.55
60,753 12.58
47,480 22.64
Hero Honda recorded 15.7
per cent growth at 4,23,434
units, while Bajaj Auto logged
7.1 per cent growth at
192,026 units. Three-wheel-
er sales were up by 22.64 per
cent at 47,480 units, com-
pared to 38,715 units in Jan-
uary 2010. The commercial
vehicles segment grew by
12.6 per cent to 60,753 units
from 53,963 units a year ear-
lier. Sen said the slow growth
of medium and heavy com-
mercial vehicles was a cause
of concern.
The segment grew by 6.6
per cent to 27,713 units, com-
pared to 25,988 units in the
same month last year. “This
segment is usually an indi-
cator of the economy, as it is
very sensitive to interest rates
and availability of finance,”
he said. Sales of light com-
mercial vehicles rose 18.1 per
cent to 33,040 units from
27,975 units.