Maruti, Hyundai report 4 per cent drop in domestic sales for Dec'16

Indian auto giants Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) and Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) reported a drop of over 4 per cent in domestic sales for the month of December 2016 as the companies adjusted production to rationalise inventory at dealerships. 

Maruti sold 1,06,414 units, 4.4% less than the 1,11,333 units it sold in the year ago period, while Hyundai’s sales fell 4.3% to 40,057 units. 

Maruti said the production in December was as per its internal plan.

“While the retail demand for our products was strong, our wholesale (numbers) in December are as per our plan decided at the start of the year,” RS Kalsi, executive director (sales & marketing), MSIL, said. 

The company had shut down its facilities for a week in December for scheduled maintenance. 

Maruti said the production in December was as per its internal plan. “While the retail demand for our products was strong, our wholesale (numbers) in December are as per our plan decided at the start of the year,” RS Kalsi, executive director (sales & marketing), MSIL, said. 

The company had shut down its facilities for a week in December for scheduled maintenance. 

It had earlier said that the sale of its passenger vehicles, hit by demonetisation in November, was seeing a reversal in December. “Our bookings are up 7% in December compared to a decline of around 20% in November,” MSIL chairman RC Bhargava had said.