56 | AutoPartsAsia | OCTOBER 2017ANALYSIS
T
he Indian automobile sales
in August moved up as the
manufacturers passed on
the goods and service tax
(GST)benefits to the buyers. The rural
demand, backed by good monsoon,
was also good.
According to the sales report released
by Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers (SIAM), the passenger
vehicle (PV) dispatches for the
domestic market grew 13.76 percent
in August to 294,335 units compared
to 258,737 units in the same month a
year ago.
“Indian car sales will remain robust,
growing nine percent this year and
seven percent in 2018. GST, which
replaced a web of indirect taxes in
India, prompted some automakers to
lower vehicle prices. This encouraged
dealer restocking and boosted sales,”
says Moody’s. The Indian passenger
vehicle market is expected to cross
3.6 million units this year.Owing to the higher cess, the utility
vehicle market saw minor moderation
in the pace of growth. In August,
the utility vehicle dispatches stood
at 78,664 units compared to 65,760
units in the same month a year
ago, thus recording a growth of
19.62 percent. The passenger car
wholesale dispatches also grew 11.80
percent to 198,811 units compared to
177,829 units in the same month last
year.
Maruti Suzuki India’s wholesale in the
domestic market stood at 152,000
units with a growth of 26.7 percent.
The company had sold 132,211 units
in August 2016.
Hyundai Motor India (HMIL)
registered domestic sales of 47,103
units in August 2017 growing nine
percent over August 2016 and 9.5percent from over July 2017.Rakesh
Srivastava, Director, Sales and
Marketing, HMIL, said, “Hyundai
volumes with 47,103 units grew nine
percent on the strong acceptance of
the Next Gen Verna with more than
7,000 bookings within 10 days of
launch along with strong demand
for Grand i10, Elite i20 and Creta in
a market fuelled with speculations
on the GST cess increase and
challenges posed by floods in many
states. With the spread of monsoon
and a good product portfolio we
foresee strong buying in the festival
season.”Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL)
maintained wholesales of 17,365
units in August 2017 as against
13,941 units in the corresponding
month last year, registering a growth
of 25 percent. The company has been
maintaining strong sales momentum
in the current fiscal and has sold
73,012 units during April – August
2017 with a cumulative growth of over
22% as against 59,821 units in the
corresponding period in 2016.
Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO,
said “HCIL continues to record strong
sales in August led by City and WR-V.
The festive purchases have already
begun in some parts of the country
and we expect the festival season to
further boost our sales in the next two
months.”
Ford India’s domestic wholesales
in August stood at 7,777
vehicles, as against 8,548 units
a year ago, declining by 9.01
percent.“Constraints in the supply
chain severely impacted export as
well as domestic production for Ford
cars in August,” Anurag Mehrotra,
President and Managing Director,
Ford India, said.Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) sold
12017 units in the domestic market in
August 2017 compared 12,801units
sold in the same month a year ago,
thus posting a decline of 6.1 percent.Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle
wholesale in August 2017 stood at
14,340 units compared to 13,002
units in the same month a year ago,
registering a growth of 10 percent.
This was due to a large part bolstered
by the strong demand for the Tata
Tiago and the Tata Tigor.
Renault India’s wholesale dropped
26.11 percent in August 2017 to
9,585 units compared to 12,972 units
in the same month. Nissan India and
Volkswagen India experienced a
decline of 19.21 per cent and 6.48 per
cent, respectively.Not only passenger vehicle segment
but others also showed some sign
of recovery while Infrastructure
development and construction activity
have led to growth in commercial
vehicle segment.Commercial Vehicles
The commercial vehicle wholesales
grew 23.22 percent in August to
65,310 units compared to 53,001
units dispatched last year same
month. The main growth driver was
M&HCV segment which grew 28.43
to 26,376 units compared to 20,537
units of wholesales in August 2016.
Light commercial vehicle (LCV) also
grew by 19.9 percent to 38,934 units
compared to 32,464 units in the same
month a year ago. It was mainly the
passenger carrier that witnessed
strong growth in the both LCV and
M&HCV segments.
Tata Motors’ overall commercial
vehicle sales in August 2017 in theIndian Auto Sales Move To
Fast Lane In August
APA Bureau