Automobile
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and Toyota Kirloskar Motors on Wednesday reported annual sales increase of 9.5 per and 6.45 per cent, respectively, in October. On the other hand, Mahindra and Mahindra reported a 1.65 per cent decline in total sales.
The sales number for Maruti stood at 146,446 units, against 133,793 in the same month a year ago; Toyota reported sales of 12,403 units, against 11,651 units last year. Mahindra and Mahindra sold 51,149 units in October, compared to 52,008 units in the same month last year.
Maruti’s domestic sales stood at 136,000 units, up 9.9 per cent from 123,764 in October last year, MSI said. Mahindra’s domestic sales grew marginally to 48,818 units last month compared to 48,729 in October 2016.
Maruti’s ramped up the sale of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara, Ertiga, S-Cross and compact SUV VitaraBrezza, which saw a jump of 29.8 per cent. Toyota's popular UV models Innova Crysta and Fortuner continued to enjoy good growth and demand in the market. Sales of Mahindra’s passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, dipped by 5.35 per cent at 23,413 units compared to 24,737 units in the same month last year.
Exports of Toyota’s Etios Series saw a huge jump of 63.96 per cent. Toyota exported 1,597 units of the Etios series in October 2017 compared to 974 in the same month last year. Exports for Maruti in October this year grew by 4.2 per cent to 10,446 units compared to 10,029 units in the same month last year. Mahindra’s Exports declined by 28.91 per cent to 2,331 units in October against 3,279 units in the year-ago month.
On the sales performance, Toyota Director and Senior Vice- President - Sales and Marketing, N Raja said: "We are happy that the festive season has given a positive push to the domestic sales in the auto industry. There is a spur in the customer demand."
Commercial vehicle sales of Mahindra and Mahindra increased by 6.76 per cent to 19,279 units in October against 18,059 units in the year-ago period, M&M said.
Maruti witnessed a decline in the sale of mini segment cars, including Alto and WagonR which saw a 4.2 per cent decline to 32,490 units during the month under review, and mid-sized sedan Ciaz which saw a decline of 35.4 per cent to 4,107 units.
Toyota's Camry Hybrid witnessed subdued demand with no change in price post cess hike, N Raja mentioned.
