Led by Maruti, automakers report robust sales in May

Automakers continued with strong sales for second month in a row in the ongoing fiscal with market leader Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), Tata Motors and Honda Cars reporting double digit sales growth for May.

Ford India also posted double digit growth while Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) and utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) reported single digit sales growth in the domestic market last month.

MSI said its domestic sales stood at 1,63,200 units in May, up 24.9 per cent from 1,30,676 units in May last year, fuelled by strong sales of compact segment cars. Sales of Swift, Estilo, Dzire and Baleno jumped 50.8 per cent to 77,263 units last month as against 51,234 units earlier.

Similarly, sales of utility vehicle, including Ertiga, S-Cross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza, increased 13.4 per cent to 25,629 units in May, from 22,608 units in the same month of 2017.

The mini segment cars like Alto and WagonR, however, witnessed 3.1 per cent decline at 37,864 units from 39,089 units in May 2017.

Tata Motors reported 61 per cent increase in sales of its passenger vehicles in the domestic market at 17,489 units last month as compared with 10,855 units in May 2017.

"Thanks to the continued strong demand for Tiago and Tigor, our car sales recorded a growth of 18 per cent, while the UVs continued to record an exceptional performance of 463 per cent growth, due to the strong demand for Nexon and Hexa," Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Business Unit President Mayank Pareek said.

Similarly, Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) posted 41 per cent rise in domestic sales at 15,864 units in May, riding on the back of strong sales of new Amaze.

The company had sold 11,278 units in the domestic market in May 2017. HCIL Senior Vice President and Director, Sales and Marketing Rajesh Goel said the company prioritised Amaze production volumes last month in order to cater to the strong customer demand.  The company sold 9,789 units of new Amaze in May. HMIL reported sale of 45,008 units in domestic market in May, up 7.14 per cent from 42,007 units in same month of last year. Similarly, M&M reported sales of 20,715 passenger vehicles, including Scorpio and XUV500, last month in the domestic market, a growth of 2 per cent compared with 20,392 units in May 2017.

Ford India on the other hand reported domestic sales at 9,069 units last month as against 6,742 units in May 2017.

"Our continued focus on executing our strategic pillars of strong brand, right products, competitive cost and effective scale have ensured our growth which continues to be better than the industry," Ford India President and MD Anurag Mehrotra said.

At macroeconomic level, the outlook is positive thanks to a good monsoon forecast, he added.

"However, the industry needs to exercise caution given the rising commodity and fuel prices that are expected to result in higher inflation," Mehrotra said.

In the two-wheeler segment, market leader Hero MotoCorp reported 11 per cent increase in sales to 7,06,365 units in May. It had sold 6,33,884 units in the corresponding month last year.

Similarly, Bajaj Auto reported 30 per cent jump in vehicle sales at 4,07,044 units last month. It had sold 3,13,756 vehicles units in May last year.

Chennai-based TVS Motor Company reported 10 per cent rise in total sales at 3,09,865 units in May. Niche bike maker Royal Enfield posted 23 per cent growth in total sales at 74,697 units in May.