Car sales up 22.

63 pct in Feb
Domestic passenger car sales touched a record 1,89,008 units in February this year, a growth of 22.63 per cent vis-a-vis the figure for the same month of 2010, as customers advanced their purchases fearing a possible excise duty hike in the Budget. According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), February sales bettered the previous high of 1,84,332 units achieved in January this year. Total sales of vehicles across categories registered 21.32 per cent growth to 13,70,932 units in February, 2011, from 11,30,037 units in the same month last year, it added. The industry body, however, said car sales growth rates could moderate to around 14-16 per cent in the next fiscal, as the sector will have to overcome the challenges of high interest rates and rising commodity prices. "At some point, vehicle manufacturers have to rationalise prices (to offset rising input costs). Moreover the base has been growing, so growth rate will come down," SIAM Director-General Vishnu Mathur said.
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In the April-February period this fiscal, car sales grew by 30.34 per cent to 17,88,503 units from 13,72,192 units in the same period a year ago. Car sales growth in February was led by Maruti Suzuki India, which sold 87,851 units, up 19.01 per cent compared to the same month last year. Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd's car sales were up by 4.84 per cent to 32,503 units, while Tata Motors saw a 18.67 per cent increase in sales to 27,272 units during the month. According to market analysts, the high car volumes seen in February were mainly on account of buyers advancing their vehicle purchases, fearing a possible price increase if the government was to hike excise duty in the Budget. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee however, retained excise at the same level at 10 per cent duty on small cars and 22 per cent on big cars in the 2011-12 Budget. According to the SIAM data, total two-wheeler sales in February increased by 22.04 per cent to 1,02,2272 units from 8,37,653 units in the corresponding period last year. Motorcycle sales grew by 20.8 per cent during the month to 7,76,051 units from 6,42,419 units in the same month last year. The growth was driven by market leader Hero Honda, which posted a 22.92 per cent increase in sales to 4,29,928 units. Bajaj Auto Ltd posted sales of 2,05,145 units during the month, up 16.74 per cent vis -avis the same month a year ago. TVS Motor Co reported bike sales of 52,650 units during February, up 14.33 pe r cent from the corresponding month last year.

According to SIAM, total scooter sales during February stood at 1,85,460 units, up 27.15 per cent vis-a-vis the same month last year. Market leader Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India had posted sales of 78,747 units during the month, up 12.77 per cent. Hero Honda's scooter sales in February amounted to 33,025 units, up 45.86 per cent, while that of TVS Motor Co were at 38,115 units, up 46.71 per cent from the same month last year. Sales of commercial vehicles climbed by 10.49 per cent to 64,057 units from 57,977 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said. Medium and heavy commercial vehicles sales stood at 31,242 units during the month, up 11.37 per cent from the same month last year. Light commercial vehicles sales grew by 9.66 per cent to 32,815 units in February this year. Three-wheeler sales totalled 49,082 units in February, up 24.03 per cent from the same month last year, SIAM said.

Auto sales up 31% in December: SIAM

Automobile sales in India in December 2010 grew by 30.51 per cent, continuing a healthy trend witnessed during the year but rising interest rates and high commodity prices could slow down the growth, according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). In December, total sale of vehicles across categories registered growth of 30.51 per cent to 13,05,872 units in December 2010, as against 10,00,562 units in the same month of 2009. The industry has been growing at around 30 per cent in the ongoing fiscal. Releasing the latest sales data, SIAM President Pawan Goenka said in the last three months interest rates have increased rapidly and is a cause for concern. "We are seeing interest rates as high as 14.5 per cent on passenger vehicles and up to 18 per cent on commercial vehicles. There are indications that in the next six months it is going to increase and therefore it is a worry," Goenka told reporters in a video conference from Mumbai.
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Asked what kind of growth the industry was expecting in the prevailing circumstances, he declined to forecast a figure but said the existing growth level of around 30 per cent will be difficult to maintain. He, however, said considering the growth the sector has seen in the past one decade, "1213 per cent growth is what one would be happy but 15-16 per cent over a period of five year horizon could be possible". As per SIAM data, the Indian auto sector has witnessed volumes increase to 14.8 million units in 2010 from 4.7 million units in 2000 with domestic revenues increasing to USD 34 billion from USD 8.5 billion during the pe riod. During December 2010, domestic passenger car sales jumped by 28.91 per cent to 1,48,681 units in December 2010, compared to 1,15,337 units in the same month a year ago. The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India posted sales of 75,652 units, up 20.74 per cent from 62,653 units same month last year, SIAM said. Hyundai Motor India had sold 26,066 units, up 17.14 per cent from December 2009, while Tata Motors' sales increased by 30.87 per cent to 16,941 units.

New month, new record for car sales

Demand for automobiles continue to be in top gear with car sales touching a monthly record in February, as customers advanced purchases on expectations of an increase in vehicle excise taxes. Domestic passenger car sales jumped 22.63 per cent from a year earlier in February to 1,89,008 vehicles, according to data released on Wednesday by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The figure is higher than Januarys all-time monthly record sales of 1,84,332 cars. Sales also rose with the launch of new small cars as well as sedans in the recent past, such as Fords Figo, Toyotas Etios and Hyundais upgraded i10. But the industry body expects growth to moderate in coming months. Except car sales, we have seen some moderation in February and that should continue for some time, said Vishnu Mathur, director general of SIAM. It is difficult to sustain such high growth rates and the next [fiscal] year should see some moderation.
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He said, however, that total local vehicle sales in the current fiscal year are expected to exceed SIAMs earlier prediction of 18 per cent. Sales should grow between 26 per cent and 27 per cent this [fiscal] year. Maruti Suzuki, Indias largest car maker by sales, sold 87,851 cars locally, up 19 per cent from a year earlier. Hyundai, the second-largest car maker by sales, sold 32,503 cars in February, up 5 per cent from a year earlier. February car sales at Tata Motors jumped 19 per cent to 27,272 vehicles. In February, sales in the motorcycle segment increased 21 per cent to 776,051 units, with market leader Hero Honda Motors recording a 23 per cent growth to 4,29,928 units. Second-ranked Bajaj Auto posted a 17 per cent increase to 2,02,145 motorcycles, while sales at TVS Motor rose 14 per cent to 52,650 motorcycles. The scooters segment posted a 27 per cent increase to 1,85,460 units in February. The gain was helped by higher sales of Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India, TVS Motor and Suzuki Motorcycle. Local sales of trucks and buses grew 11 per cent in February to 64,057 units as companies such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Mahindra & Mahindra recorded rises. Local truck and bus sales at Tata Motors grew 7 per cnet to 36,789 units while those at Ashok Leyland rose 27 per cent to 8,984 units.

Demand for automobiles continue to be in top gear with car sales touching a monthly record in February, as customers advanced purchases on expectations of an increase in vehicle excise taxes. Domestic passenger car sales jumped 22.63 per cent from a year earlier in February to 1,89,008 vehicles, according to data released on Wednesday by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The figure is higher than Januarys all-time monthly record sales of 1,84,332 cars. Sales also rose with the launch of new small cars as well as sedans in the recent past, such as Fords Figo, Toyotas Etios and Hyundais upgraded i10. But the industry body expects growth to moderate in coming months. Except car sales, we have seen some moderation in February and that should continue for some time, said Vishnu Mathur, director general of SIAM. It is difficult to sustain such high growth rates and the next [fiscal] year should see some moderation.

Industry growth rate

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has revised the industry growth rate upwards for this year. The association on Friday said it expects the automobile industry to grow at 18-20 per cent this year as against the earlier prediction of 13-15 per cent. This accelerated growth outlook comes on the back of strong economic growth, high consumer confidence, infrastructure spending, rural employment, stable auto finance rate and new launches experienced by the industry. SIAM president Pawan Goenka said, The performance of the industry has exceeded our expectations. From the 15th position in the world, India today stands at the seventh position in the global vehicle market. The industry is coming down to a long -term steady double digit growth. He added that the country has the potential to surpass the Brazilian market to become the sixth largest in vehicle market in the world. Currently, China is the largest followed by Japan, US, Germany, South Korea, Brazil and then India SIAM expects passenger vehicles (PV) sales to touch 2.4 million, commercial vehicles (CV) to reach 6 lakh units, three-wheelers at 5 lakh units and 11 million units for twowheelers, for this year. The industry body expects the Indian automobile industry to end at $80 billion this y ear and expects it to become $145 billion much before its target of 2015. However, the association expressed concern over the hardening steel prices and interest rates going ahead. It also said the supplier constraint still continues to exist though the gap between demand and supply mismatch has reduced and is less than 5 per cent. Further, the fall in exports to Europe also remains a concern for the automakers which highly depend on the said market. The industry can absorb an increase of around 50 basis point increase in the interest rates but anything more than that will impact the industry adversely, said Goenka, adding that the increase in steel prices in the last one month is a matter of concern. Moreover, the growth during the second half of the financial year is expected to remain moderate with the low base affect to wears off. The third and fourth quarters of this financial year are expected to witness moderate growth as low base affect wears off. One should remember that we are comparing it to third quarter of last year which saw the best growth for the auto industry, he said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/car-sales-up-22.63-pct-in-feb/759940/0

'Auto industry faces new challenges as demand shrinks'

The Indian automobile industry, which grew at the rate of 15 to 27 per cent in the past five years, is facing numerous challenges now due to shrinking of demand, SIAM President Ravi Kant said today. "Today the Indian automotive industry is facing unprecedented challenges. On one hand, the demand is shrinking due to lack of available consumer finance, high interest rates and high cost of fuel," Kant said at the annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). "On the other hand, cost of input material has witnessed massive increases," he added. In the last two years, prices of steel, copper and natural rubber have gone up tremendously, affecting various segments of the automobile industry significantly, Kant said. "Therefore, I would like to ask the government to take a note of the deteriorating health of the industry and take corrective measures so that objectives of the Automotive Mission plan can be achieved," he said. In the past five years, the industry grew at the rate of 15-27 per cent, he said. "This growth provided encouragement to various players and nearly Rs 78,000 crore of investment has been planned. About 50 per cent of this has already been committed."

Record Car Sales Mark 2010 for Indian Auto Sector

Record sales made 2010 a special year for automakers in India, which also saw the iconic Maruti 800 take a bow from big cities, Hero split with Honda and demand for the promising Nano sputter following a string of accidents. For a country whose economy has been expanding at near 9 per cent rate, it was not surprising that automobile sales broke all records between July and October to average a growth of 30 per cent. Such was the appeal of the country and the appetite of the Indian motorist that Bugatti launched its Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, which at Rs 16 crore became the costliest car in India, while other niche marques Aston Martin and Spyker Cars said they too would drive in soon. The year will most definitely be remembered for the end of the 26 year partnership of Hero Honda, the world's largest two wheeler maker. BM Munjal promoted Hero Group decided to buy out Japanese Honda's 26 per cent stake for an undisclosed sum, while inking a new licensing pact that will give it access to Honda's technology for few more years with royalty remaining at the same level as before. The split was reminiscent of the break-up of a Renault-Mahindra & Mahindra joint venture to make sedan Logan in April, when the Indian firm bought out the 49 per cent stake of the French auto major in Mahindra Renault Pvt Ltd. If there was one event that had a tinge of nostalgia that was the phase out of India's first people's car Maruti 800, which bid adieu to 13 big cities due to str ict emission norms (Bharat Stage IV) that kicked-in in April. Smaller cities upgraded to Bharat-III norms. Another icon, the Ambassador, faced testing times when its maker Hindustan Motors approached the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction in May due to mounting losses. As for the budget-friendly Nano, the most talked about car since its unveiling two years ago, its ride was not as easy as its rise to popularity. Incidents of brand new cars catching fire and dwindling sales made many pundits wonder if the Nano can live up to its promise of becoming the transport of choice of the masses. While Tata Motors had to tell customers that it would provide safety measures free of cost to prevent incidents of fire, other major carmakers like Maruti Suzuki India and Honda Siel Cars India also recalled their popular models, 'A-Star' and 'City' respectively, to rectify manufacturing defects. There was also a flurry of new launches, with the likes of Renault and Ford joining the bandwagon to cash in on the sales boom. The Indian automart is inching towards the two million units a year mark. Some of the new models that hit the roads during the year includes Maruti Suzuki Eeco, Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo and Vento and Nissan Micra. Renault said it will launch five new models by 2013 and Ford upstaged it by announcing that it would launch eight new models in India by 2015 to cash in on the burgeoning market. While global players were busy making inroads into India, homegrown major Mahindra & Mahindra stepped up its nternational expansion plans when it inched closer to acquire South Korean sports utility vehicle maker SsangYong Motor for about Rs 2,105 crore. Although, it had to prolong its planned US entry following legal battle with its erstwhile exclusive distributor Global

Vehicles. Earlier in the year, M&M had acquired 55.2 per cent stake in REVA Electric Car Company by a combination of equity purchase from Reva's promoters and a fresh infusion of over Rs 45 crore. It also announced to invest about Rs 8,600 crore in the next five years for various purposes in the domestic market. Also in the budget car space, Renault-Nissan and Bajaj Auto agreed to take forward their USD 2,500 ultra-low-cost (ULC) car project, with the Indian firm agreeing to contract manufacture for the Franco-Japanese alliance ending months of speculations over the future of the project. The ULC is now likely to hit the market by 2012. The beginning of the year was a memorable one for the Indian auto industry with the 10th Auto Expo at the National Capital in January. The expo attracted over 20 lakh visitors and 25 new models were unveiled. The then Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Director General Dilip Chenoy stated the expo was "possibly be the largest in terms of footfalls", and perhaps the third biggest after Frankfurt and Shanghai in terms of participants. The platform provided by the expo was exploited to the hilt by many carmakers. General Motors launched its small car Beat and said it will develop a small car wholly-designed at its Bangalore centre. Honda and Toyota showcased their small cars, specifically meant for the Indian market with the latter launching the sedan version of the car, Etios in December. Czech carmaker Skoda too announced to launch a small car in 2012. Italian auto maker Fiat also planned to develop a small car, specifically for the Indian market. As the year moved ahead, enthused by new launches and easy financing options, the sector clocked an average of 30 per cent sales growth. From July to October, the industry witnessed records being consecutively broken in total vehicles sold in the country. Interestingly, despite being a party to the record sales car market leader Maruti Suzuki found it difficult to maintain its over 50 per cent market share consistently due to very strong competition in the price sensitive small car segment. During the year, Maruti Suzuki India announced fresh investments of Rs 6,125 crore till 2013, which includes setting up of new plants and a research centre. By 2013, the company aims to have a total production capacity of 17.5 lakh units annually up from over 12 lakh units per year at present. Ashok Leyland also said it will invest Rs 3,000 crore in the next three years on various projects, including its light commercial vehicle joint venture with Japanese automaker Nissan after scaling back planned capex to Rs 2,000 crore last year from an initially announced Rs 3,200 crore. Meanwhile, Tata Motors said it will invest about Rs 10,000 crore in the next 2 -3 years on product development, facility modernisation and other capex purposes. The company has decided to assemble Land Rover vehicles in India from next year. On the two-wheelers front, super premium bike makers warmed up to the Indian market with iconic US cult bike maker Harley Davidson announcing to set up an assembly line in India, its only second such facility outside the home. Another player BMW had planned to introduce its premium range of motorcycles in the Indian market by the end of 2010, which are likely to be priced Rs 18 lakh onwards.

They were encouraged by the good response to the existing Players like Honda and Suzuki, which sell premium bikes and launched more new models such as VFR1200F (Honda) , priced at Rs 17.5 lakh and 'GSX-R1000' (Suzuki) at Rs 12.75 lakh during the year. With the two-wheeler market booming, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter said it will set up its second plant in Rajasthan at an investment of about Rs 500 crore, while TVS Motor Company said it will invest Rs 200 crore by April next year to increase its production capacity to 28 lakh units. Suzuki also announced an investment of Rs 500 crore to more than double its production capacity in India to 5.4 lakh units per annum by 2012. Royal Enfield is looking to set up a new facility to scale up its existing production capacity to up to 10,000 units per month over the next few years. The motorcycle segment saw a new entrant in the form of Mahindra & Mahindra which launched two models at both ends of the spectrum, a 110-cc entry-level bike and a premium 300 cc offering. The year also witnessed a lot of action in the commercial vehicle sector. The world's largest truck maker Daimler announced an investment of Rs 4,400 crore over the next five years to set up a 400-acre manufacturing plant in Chennai. Mahindra & Mahindra announced its foray into heavy commercial vehicle segment in partnership with Navistar Inc of the United States. Withdrawing the stimulus package given last year partially, the government hiked excise duty on all non-petroleum sectors to 10 per cent from 8, besides jacking up the duty on big cars and SUVs and MUVs to 22 per cent up from 20 per cent earlier in the Budget for 2010-11, resulting in price hike of up to Rs 70,000. Going green, the government provided a Rs 95 crore incentive package to electric vehicle manufacturers during the remaining part of the 11th Plan, which is 2010-11 and 2011-12. The scheme envisaged incentives of up to 20 per cent on the ex-factory prices of the vehicles, subject to a maximum limit. The cap on the incentive will be Rs 4,000 for low speed electric two-wheelers, Rs 5,000 for high speed electric two-wheelers, Rs 60,000 for seven seater three-wheeler and Rs one lakh for an electric car. The year 2010 is also a year, when the auto industry faced severe labour unrest resulting in production losses in different facilities across the country. The major being the three-day-old strike by a section of workers at the Korean carmaker Hyundai's Sriperumbudur plant in June. The agitation was called off following a government-brokered deal after the carmaker lost about 2,000 units every day on an average and around Rs 65 crore due to the strike. General Motors too faced workers' ire due to wage related issues. Auto component maker Bosch's Naganathapura was shut for five days after alleged physical intimidation of the plant managers and officers during the workers' go-slow strike and subsequent tool-down strike demanding higher wages. A similar labour unrest at the battery maker Exide's Bawal plant in Haryana affected production of Hero Honda and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India. Apollo Tyres' Perambra facility in Kerala was locked out for more than two months, before the labour unrest started at the facility in April this year. The entire episode caused the company about Rs 600 crore in revenues. The Indian auto industry would be hoping that no such problems would be there next year as it looks to cruise on the highway to a brighter future.

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The Indian Automobile industry today reported its worst ever sales in history with overall domestic sales declining by 17.98 per cent in November, as commercial and passenger vehicle sales skidded off the road. Total vehicle sales in the domestic market stood at 7,11,281 units in November as against 8,67,243 units in the same month last year, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Commercial vehicle sales crashed by 49.52 per cent last month to 20,637 units from 40,879 units in the year-ago period, while passenger car sales also dropped by 19.38 per cent to 83,059 units from 1,03,031 units in the same month last year. Two-wheeler sales slipped by 14.68 per cent at 5,67,502 units from 6,65,181 units in the same period last year, with motorcylce sales declining 20.24 per cent at 4,31,171 units as against 5,40,553 units in the corresponding month a year ago. "This is the worst ever total performance. All the segments have not fallen together drastically in such a fashion earlier," SIAM Director General Dilip Chenoy said. The drop in passenger car sales was the worst since November 2000, when the same fell by 21.91 per cent, he added. He also said the fall in commercial vehicle segment was biggest in the recorded history. "...Earlier the sharpest fall in commercial vehicle sales in a month was 48.6 per cent in January 1998," Chenoy said. During November, sales of car market leader Maruti Suzuki India declined by 24.84 per cent to 57,554 units compared to 43,258 units in the same month last year, SIAM said. Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the country's second largest carmaker, also registered a downslide of 23.32 per cent at 19,041 units against 14,601 units a year ago. Tata Motors, on the other hand, was able to marginally push the sales northward at 12,516 units, while the same stood at 12,502 units in November last year. The sale of 'Logan' by Mahindra Renault fell over five fold at 300 units compared with 1,560 units in the same month last year. Continuing its downhill drive, motorcycle sales in the country dipped by 20.24 per cent at 4,31,171 units against 5,40,553 units in the corresponding month a year ago. Market leader Hero Honda registered a 1.41 per cent decline in bike sales at 2,67,424 units in November compared with 2,71,251 units in the year-ago period. Rival Bajaj Auto's sales plummeted by 52.96 per cent at 82,283 units against 1,74,936 units in the corresponding month last year, SIAM said. Chennai-based TVS Motor Co, too, registered a fall of 44.66 per cent in sales at 26,755 units against 48,345 units. However, it was a completely different story in the scooter segment with sales during November growing by 12.36 per cent at 1,00,089 units against 89,078 units a year ago, SIAM said. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India had a growth of 26.96 per cent at 62,008 units compared to 48,841 units in the same month last year. According to the SIAM figures, Hero Honda's scooter sales were up by 32.54 per cent at 14,235 units against 10,740 units last year.

TVS Motor's scooter sales were, however, down by 28.94 per cent at 15,332 units against 21,577 units last year. Total two-wheeler sales in November decreased by 14.68 per cent at 5,67,502 units compared with 6,65,181 units in the same month last year. Three-wheeler sales during the month were also down by 23.12 per cent at 23,159 units compared with 30,124 units in the corresponding month last year. SIAM said commercial vehicle sales during the month dipped by 49.52 per cent to 20,637 units against 40,879 units in the year-ago period. Light commercial vehicle sales during the month was down by 33.18 per cent at 12,312 units against 18,426 units in the same month last year. Medium and Heavy Commercial vehicle sales in November fell more than two fold at 8,325 units compared with 22,453 units last year.

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ar sales in India posted their best May ever, rising by almost a third from a year ago, an industry body

said on Wednesday, as rising incomes and a rapidly expanding economy offset the impact of price increases. Demand is likely to remain strong in the near-term on a robust economic outlook and the easy availability of finance. The expected normal monsoon rains could give further fillip to sales in one of the world's fastest growing markets, analysts said. "Consumer confidence level is high in the market and that should help the demand in the near term," said Vijay Chugh, an automobile sector analyst with Ambit Capital. "From rural demand perspective, monsoon will be a factor." The four-month annual monsoon rains, which is vital for farm output and rural incomes, and impacts demand for goods ranging from cars to televisions, hit the country's southern coast last week as scheduled. Asia's third-largest economy could maintain growth of 8.5 per cent in 2010/11 despite the euro zone problems, provided there is a normal summer monsoon, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday. Rising costs of raw materials such as pig iron and steel, growing competition from foreign automakers and prospects of a rise in interest rates are concerns for the Indian firms such as Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors in India. "We expect some speed breakers, in the form of foreign competition and spurt in raw material prices," brokerage Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services said in a research note. "But overall, the long-term demand for the industry remains positively intact." China and India have been bright spots for global automakers as they recover from a sharp industry downturn. Vehicle sales in India are expected to reach a new high for the second year in 2010/11 though the market is much smaller than China's. China's passenger car sales rose at their slowest pace this year in May, setting the stage for more moderate growth in 2010. Strong Consumer Sentiment Local Indian firms sold 148,481 cars in the month, compared with 113,810 units a year ago, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. It was the highest sales in May ever, the industry body said. Sales of trucks and buses, a barometer of economic activity, rose 58 per cent to 48,580 units in May, SIAM said. The industry group said that strong consumer sentiment in a growing economy helped growth, but a possible rise in interest rate could have an adverse impact on sales in the months ahead. "Interest rates continue to remain stable. Availability of finance is absolutely not an issue," Vishnu Mathur, director general of SIAM, told reporters. "Because of inflation if steps are taken to control money supply, that will have an impact." By 0830 GMT, shares in Maruti, 54.2 per cent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, were up 0.6 per cent and Tata Motors were down 0.9 per cent, while the main Mumbai market was up 0.2 per cent.

Maruti, India's leading car maker, last week said May sales rose 28 per cent to a record 102,175 units.

uto sales in Japan fell for a sixth straight month in February on weak demand amid expiration of subsidies to replace older cars, while sales at Indian automakers continued to gain ground. Japan's industry-wide auto sales, including 660cc minivehicles, fell 12.4 per cent in February to 401,292 vehicles, industry data showed on Tuesday. Automakers in Japan posted a sales decline of 7.8 to 21.3 per cent, with the world's top automaker Toyota Motor Corp posting the largest decline. "It is too early to say if it (Japan car sales) has entered a solid recovery path or it has hit the bottom. We have to wait to see the sales of March, the biggest sales month, before we make a judgment on the situation," Michiro Saito, general manager at the Japan Automobile Dealers Association, said. Sales at Honda Motor fell 16.1 per cent and Nissan Motor fell 7.8 per cent. Meanwhile, sales at India's largest automaker, Maruti Suzuki, rose 15.5 per cent while sales at Tata Motors grew 12 per cent from a year earlier. Sales at Mahindra & Mahindra rose 20 per cent in February. Sales of the Tata Nano, touted as the world's cheapest car, rose 100 per cent in February to 8.262 units. Indian automakers sold 184,332 units in January, up 26.3 per cent from a year ago. Vehicle sales in India, one of the fastest growing auto markets in the world, grew 31 per cent in 2010 as an aspirational and burgeoning middle class in Asia's third largest economy spurred demand. But that growth is expected to moderate to 15 per cent this year amid rising interest rates, fuel prices and vehicle costs. Still, global automakers are increasingly relying on growth in emerging markets such as China and India as they face saturation and smaller growth numbers in their home countries. US automakers are set to report auto sales data for February on Tuesday. Auto sales are expected to rise about 20 per cent from the still-depressed levels of a year earlier, but the recent rise in oil prices could slow or derail the industry's recovery, analysts and industry executives have said.

http://www.businessworld.in/bw/2010_06_09_Record_May_Car_Sales_For_India.html

India Automakers See 20-30% Rise In Aug Sales

The second half of the year is a better period for the auto sales due to the festive season
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Sales at top Indian automakers rose 20 to 30 per cent in August, as analysts expected continued growth driven by strong demand in the festive months ahead but cautioned the rate of growth would slow against high comparisons and a possible rise in interest rates. Maruti Suzuki, India's leading car maker which is 54.2 pe r cent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, posted a 24 per cent rise in August sales, and the company said local sales in August were its highest-ever monthly sales. "The second half of the year is a better period for the auto sales due to the festive season," said Vaishali Jajoo, senior auto analyst with Angel Broking. "Looking at the festive seasons coming in, dealers start stocking up. We can see that in the next month as well. The economy has also picked up and normal monsoon will also have a positive impact on rural sales," she added. India's festive season starts in early September and peaks in early November after Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Tata Motors Ltd, India's leading maker of trucks and buses, said auto sales in the domestic market jumped 32 percent in August to 65,938 units. Mahindra and Mahindra, India's top utility vehicles and tractors maker, also reported a 29 percent jump in August vehicle sales. While India auto sales are expected to rise further, that kind of growth is no t sustainable when compared to the robust growth witnessed last year, Jajoo said. A possible interest rate hike is also a major concern, she added. India has raised interest rates four times since mid-March to clamp down on inflationary pressures and there are concerns the central bank may lift rates again

to curb price pressures. "I think the interest rate hikes have still not impacted because, for one thing, the economic growth is higher, the consumer confidence has increased," she said. "Maybe if it increases by another 100 basis points, we can see the actual impact on financing and volumes." Limited component supplies from vendors is also becoming a stumbling block for automakers such as Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti, which have had to curtail production in recent months. Strong Growth In India, Tata Looks Overseas Demand for cars is growing rapidly in India, which is Asia's third -largest economy and is slated to grow 8.5 percent this fiscal year. Earlier on Wednessay, Tata Motors, which owns about two-thirds of the local market, said it plans to focus on Africa, Russia, China and the Middle East for growth. "We plan to widen our passenger car, commercial vehicle range and also look to expand market share and focus on growth in these economies," Ch airman Ratan Tata told shareholders on Wednesday. India's leading carmaker Maruti has also said it would try to advance its capacity expansion plan. India is one of the fastest growing automobile markets in the world. The country's automobile sector grew 35 percent, on average, in the first four months of the current fiscal year, data from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed. The trade organisation has forecast car sales growth of 12 percent to 13 percent in the year ending March 2011, an e stimate analysts see as conservative.
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