Slow Start For Car Sales In 2015, Excise Hike Hits Demand In January


NEW DELHI: Hit by price hikes following withdrawal of excise duty concessions, car sales in India began on a tepid note this year with main players Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai posting single digit growth in January, while others like GM India and Ford saw decline in sales.

Tata Motors and Honda Cars India were, however, exceptions posting healthy double-digit growth rates during the month.

Maruti Suzuki India’s domestic sales increased by 9.3 per cent in January to 1,05,559 units as against 96,569 units in January 2014.

Sales of its bread and butter mini segment cars, including, Alto and WagonR, declined by 7.3 per cent to 35,750 units, while compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz and Dzire rose by 7.5 per cent to 45,881 units in January.

The sales of company’s mid-sized sedan Ciaz, which was launched in October 2014, stood at 6,005 units.

Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd saw its domestic sales market grow by 4.1 per cent to 34,780 units last month as compared to 33,405 units in January 2014.

HMIL Senior Vice President Rakesh Srivastava said during the month the industry faced “stiff challenges of increasing cost of ownership on account of increase in excise duties”.

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Source: PTI