Car sales pick up pace in April

New Delhi, May 1: Car makers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Honda posted a robust growth in sales in April on the back of launches.

However, SUV major Mahindra & Mahindra could manage a meagre 1 per cent increase, while the sales of General Motors India witnessed a decline.

Maruti's sales grew 27.3 per cent to 1,00,709 units from 79,119 units in April 2014.

Sales of mini segment cars, including the Alto and the WagonR, rose 35.9 per cent, while the compact segment sales comprising the Swift, Estilo, Ritz and Dzire rose 8.7 per cent.

Rival Hyundai Motor India sold 38,601 units compared with 35,248 units a year ago, up 9.5 per cent.

According to Hyundai senior vice-president (sales and marketing) Rakesh Srivastava, the growth was achieved "on the strength of strong and young product portfolio led by 12,425 units of the Elite i20 and the i20 Active in challenging market conditions especially in the rural market".

Honda Cars India registered a 14 per cent jump in sales at 12,636 units against 11,040 units in April last year.

Utility vehicle major M&M saw its domestic sales rise 1 per cent to 34,467 units last month from 34,107 units.

"The auto industry is hopeful of a better financial year as we see positive sentiments on the back of various policy and project announcements leading to higher levels of economic activity," M&M chief executive (automotive division) Pravin Shah said.

He added that the company expected to perform better given the positive sentiments and the upcoming launches.

GM India reported a 31.87 per cent decline at 3,612 units against 5,302 units in the year-ago period.

"The overall customer sentiment has not picked up as expected and the rural markets are also facing challenging times. The fuel price hike from last night is also expected to impact demand going forward," General Motors India vice-president P. Balendran said.

"The company expects interest rates to be reduced in phases and some of the reform-oriented announcements made by the government to be implemented in a timely manner to aid economic recovery," he added.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited

Hyundai Motor India Ltd.