Maruti, other car makers speed up sales growth in Aug

Car sales growth in India moved to top gear last month, with market leader Maruti clocking over 12 per cent and Hyundai, Mahindra, Toyota, Renault and Nissan posting strong numbers on good monsoon and onset of festive season. Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic sales last month rose 12.3 per cent to 1,19,931 units, from 1,06,781 units in August 2015. Its growth was mainly on the back of sales of utility vehicles, including newly-launched compact SUV Vitara Brezza, Ertiga and the S-Cross, which surged over two-fold to 16,806 units in August this year, from 7,836 in the same month last year. 

Sales of mini segment cars, including Alto and WagonR, however, declined 5.8 per cent to 35,490 units compared with 37,665 in the year-ago month. Rival Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) sold 43,201 units in the domestic market last month as compared with 40,505 in August last year, a growth of 6.7 per cent. Home-grown utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) reported 15 per cent increase in sales at 36,944 units last month compared with 32,122 in August 2015. 

Renault India reported its highest-ever monthly sales of 12,972 units in August, an over eight-fold jump from 1,527 units sold in same month of last year. Ford India said its domestic sales rose 2.6 per cent to 8,548 units last month as against 8,331 in the same period a year ago.

Nissan Motor India posted a two-fold rise in domestic sales at 5,918 units in August compared with 2,809 a year earlier. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) domestic sales grew 15 per cent to 12,801 units in August as against 11,161 units in the same month last year. 

Volkswagen India sold 4,447 units in August compared with 4,191 last year, a growth of 6.10 per cent. On the other hand, Honda Cars India reported a 10.94 per cent decline in domestic sales at 13,941 units.