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Maruti suffers sales setback, pares production of MUVs in April

Maruti Udyog Limited's passenger car sales in the exports market crashed 89 per cent in the first month of the new fiscal, pulling down the company's total sales by 4.2 per cent to 30,016 units and market share to 56.1 per cent from 74.5 per cent a year ago.

Even MUL's multi-utility vehicles, or MUVs, failed to perform in India and abroad and the company recorded a total erosion in shipments of MUVs from India and a 73 per cent decline in total sales, latest figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Association, or SIAM, revealed.

Reflecting the demand slump, MUL cut down production of its MUVs by 75 per cent to 154 units in April, 2000, as against 632 units a year ago. The company slightly increased production of its passenger cars to 33,480, up 4.5 per cent from 32,032 units a year earlier.

Despite a growth in total passenger car sales during the month, the growth rate has slowed down on a year-to-year basis. Car sales grew 27.25 per cent on year to 53,499 units, compared with 51.68 per cent in April 1999. A total of 42,042 passenger car units were sold in April, 1999, according to the SIAM figures.

Breaking its recent robust growth trend, the Indian automobile sales in April slowed on a year-on-year basis. Truck sales in April were up only 10.53 per cent at 8,658 units, compared with 33.35 per cent a year ago, while Two-wheeler sales in April were 316,952 units, up 15.02 per cent on year. The SIAM data attributed this to a 30.31 per cent growth in the motorcycle segment to 165,801 units.

However, scooter sales fell 1.89 per cent on year to 94,547 units, while moped sales were up 8.93 per cent at 56,604 units.

Three-wheeler sales in April were at 12,873 units, down 1.46 per cent on year. Multi-utility vehicle sales in April totalled 8,299 units, down 1.24 per cent on year.

Besides Maruti, Fiat India, Hindustan Motors and Mercedes Benz were the only players to have recorded a negative growth in sales.

Hindustan Motors' sales declined 16.5 per cent in April, 2000, to 1,559 units from 1,869 units a year ago, while sales of Mercedes' E-class cars dropped 10.1 per cent to 62 units from 69 units in April, 1999.

Fiat India's car sales dropped 18 per cent to 1,191 units as against 1,467 units a year ago.

Hyundai Motors India Limited, or HMIL, remained the second-largest car-maker in the country with total sales of 7,305 units, up from 3,531 units a year ago. Tata Engineering followed with total sales of 5,211 units followed by Daewoo Motors India Limited at 5,067 units.

Ford India, riding high on growing demand for its Josh machine Ikon, saw sales spurting to 1,592 units from a mere 165 units in April 1999.

General Motors also saw its latest offering Corsa working wonders on its sales figures. The company sold a total of 573 units during April this year, up from 202 units in the same period a year ago, according to the SIAM data.

Honda SIEL's mid-sized car City also recorded a growth in sales during April this year. The company sold 923 units during the month, up 56.9 per cent from 588 units a year ago.

PAL-Peugeot and premier Automobiles did not produce or sell a single passenger car unit during the month.

Daewoo shipped 380 units of its small car Matiz during the month, while Tata Engineering exported 34 units and General Motors sold two units abroad.

In the MUV segment, barring Tata Engineering, all other players saw sales slipping into lower gear during the month. Total sales in the segment dropped 1.2 per cent at 8,299 units as against 8,403 units a year ago.

While Maruti's MUV sales dropped 73 per cent, Hindustan Motors saw its utility vehicle sales dropping 47 per cent at 118 units.

Market leader Mahindra and Mahindra also failed to lure buyers into the market and sales slipped by 15.9 per cent at 4,425 units as against 5,265 units a year ago. Bajaj Tempo sold 392 units during the month, down 18.6 per cent from 482 units in April, 1999.

Tata Engineering sold 2,126 MUV units in April, 2000, up 17.9 per cent from 1,802 units in the same month last year. New entrant Toyota Kirloskar sold 1,070 units during the month.

UNI

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