Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda Siel recorded their highest ever monthly car sales in March as demand for new models and diesel cars continued to accelerate. While the country's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors will reveal their March numbers on Monday, most others have reported record sales.However, the demand next month could be impacted due to the increase in excise duty, registration tax and value-added tax, proposed in the Union budget.Tata Motors posted 34% year-on-year increase in its March sales at 36,984 units. Sales of Nano small car increased 20% to 10,475 units, while the Indica range jumped 65% to 11,420 units. Sales of the Sumo, Safari and Aria models rose by 40% to 6,794 units in March this year.Japanese carmaker Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported 87% jump in sales in March at 18,220 cars. The Etios sedan sales grew 57% to record its highest monthly sales of 5,104 cars in March, while Etios Liva hatchback too reported a record 4,034 sales.
A prominent dealer in Maharashtra told Firstpost “sales of the Nano have been averaging 5,000-6,000 units a month nationwide against plant capacity of about 30,000 units a month. After the excise hike in the budget, prices have also increased by anywhere between Rs 4,000-9,000, depending on the variant.Unless the company launches new variants, sales are unlikely to pick up. They have been talking of a CNG variant since the Auto Expo this year, lets see when that arrives”.
However, dealer discounts have receded from peak levels seen when the company was averaging monthly sales of 500 units of the world’s cheapest car. At that time, total discounts on the car worked out to about Rs 30,000 but they have now been halved to just about Rs 15,000-17,000. Dealers said unless the company took sales of this car seriously, expected volumes may remain unattainable.
"The strong demand for the Etios range has set a good pace for us in 2012," Toyota Kirloskar Deputy Managing Director (Marketing) Sandeep Singh said. Toyota sold 6,765 units of Innova, a growth of 53%over last year, and 1,379 Fortuner SUVs last month.
" The country's largest utility vehicle maker, Mahindra & Mahindra ( M&M) too reported record monthly sales of passenger vehicles at 23,020 units, an increase of 33% over March 2011.
"We expect all our brands to continue doing well this year too and hope to create excitement in the market during FY 2013 with the addition of new products in our portfolio," Pravin Shah, M&M's chief executive for automotive division, said.
Japanese premium carmaker Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) also recorded its highest monthly sales of 11,016 cars in March, 208% more than 3,576 cars it sold a year earlier, powered by strong demand for its compact car Brio."We expect Brio and new City will propel growth for Honda in the new financial year.
Tata Motors says robust growth in sales of the Nano, Indica and Indigo family of cars has led to its highest-ever sales numbers this March. The company offers a number of diesel options in its cars (Indica and Indigo family), helping the company ride the robust diesel demand over the last few months.
Total sales (including exports) of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles in March were 100,414, a 20 percent growth over 83,363 vehicles sold in the same month last year. The company’s domestic sales of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles 2012 were 23 percent up at 95,047 units (77,431 units) .T
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