Exports boost Maruti, Hyundai sales in June

Domestic car majors Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors managed to better their overall sales last month, thanks to a major boost from the export markets of Europe, where a majority of customers have started preferring smaller and more fuel-efficient cars.

Maruti Suzuki (MSIL), India's biggest car maker, posted a growth of 22.6 per cent in sales during June at 75,109 units, 18 per cent of which came from exports. The company had posted total sales of 61,247 units during the same month last year, when exports contributed to under 8 per cent.

MSIL claimed in a release that its new car, A-star, met with an impressive demand in the export markets of Germany, UK, Netherlands, Spain and France. It exported 13,336 units last month as against 4,836 units exported in the same month a year ago.

Similarly, Korean car brand Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) reported total sales of 47,267 units, a growth of 17.63 per cent during June. Exports of the company went up by 32.5 per cent to 24,251 units as against 18,301 units during the two comparable months.

Arvind Saxena, senior V-P (marketing and sales), HMIL, said: “The first half of 2009 sales saw us maintain a strong position in the overseas market, which of course saw a resurgence due to the incentives in many European countries.”

The surge in exports for both companies is a result of a government-driven incentive programme which helps car owners avail financial gains when they trade their vehicle for a new car. This programme is active in countries like Germany, France, Italy and Britain.

Maruti's India sales of 61,773 units sales grew by 9.5 per cent, mainly on the back of a healthy demand for the newly launched compact models like Ritz and A-star, besides the regular models like Swift and Swift DZire. It had sold 56,411 units during June last year.

In comparison, Hyundai's domestic sales grew by 5 per cent to 23,016 units during the reporting month as compared to 21,881 units. The company is hoping that the upcoming budget will provide some incentive to the export segment.

"We hope that in the coming Budget, too, the government will continue the initiatives which it had taken to support the domestic market and would also take some positive steps to support exports,” added Saxena.

Sales of sports and multi-utility vehicles of Mahindra & Mahindra, India's largest manufacturer of utility vehicles, jumped by 56 per cent during June to 17,653 units as compared with 11,311 units. This is primarily due to resumption of production of the Xylo, a multi-utility vehicle, which is witnessing a strong demand.

However, sales of Logan, a joint product from M&M and Renault, slumped to just 501 units as compared with 1,351 units.

Meanwhile, sales of Tata Motors, India's third largest car maker, remained flat with negligible growth. It sold 17,039 units during June as compared with 17,017 units sold in the same month last year. The Indica range outperformed with a growth of 19 per cent at 10,210 units, while that of Indigo and Sumo/Safari declined by 26 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

New Delhi-based Honda Siel Cars reported a growth of 6.5 per cent at 5,039 units in June as against 4,732 units reported in the same month last year. The company's newly launched super premium hatchback Jazz sold 2,032 units since its launch of June 10.

Jnaneswar Sen, V-P (marketing), Honda Siel Cars India, said: "We are happy at the response received by Honda Jazz. We are sure that the customers of Honda Jazz will appreciate the product and help us win new customers."

Source: Business-Standard