Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), India's largest car company by production and sales, ended June on a modest note, with domestic business rising 1.2 percent, apparently due to the impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Exports almost doubled, leading to an overall growth of 7.6 percent, YoY. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) saw its volume sales plunge. Hyundai sales fall 5.6 percent.
Maruti Suzuki reports muted growth
MSIL's domestic sales stood at 93,263 units last month in comparison to 92,133 cars sold in June last year, while exports rose 95.8 percent to 13,131 units from 6,707 sold last June. Overall sales rose 7.6 percent to 106,394 units as against 98,840 in June 2016, according to a statement.
Also read: Impact of GST on cars, two-wheelers
Sales of Ciaz, Gypsy, Ertiga, Vitara Brezza and S-Cross spiked but other models disappointed. Overall Q1 sales rose 13.2 percent to 394,571 units, the company said.
TKM volumes plunge
TKM sold 3,628 units, a sharp fall from 14,854 cars sold in June last year. Domestic sales for June this year ended at 1,973 units and exports stood at 1,655, in comparison to 13,502 units sold in the domestic market in June 2016 and exports of 1,352 units.
"The uncertainty surrounding the GST implementation with regard to the passenger vehicles has impacted the retails as the customers are postponing their plan of purchasing the vehicle post GST roll out," N Raja, Director & Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing, TKM, said in a statement.
Hyundai reports fall in domestic sales
The Indian arm of Korean automobile company Hyundai's domestic sales stood at 37,562 units last month, down 5.6 percent from 39,807 in June last year. The company hoped for better business in the coming months. "We expect a positive demand pull post the successful implementation of GST in the coming months as industry will witness heightened level of customers' interest in a seamless unified single market," Hyundai Motor India Limited said in a statement on Saturday.
Other companies such as Tata Motors, Mahindra, Honda Cars, Renault among car-makers, and Eicher Motors (Royal Enfield), Hero Motocorp, TVS Motor, Bajaj Auto and Suzuki Motor India Ltd. are yet to publish their data.
Last June, overall car sales dropped 5.2 percent YoY to 154,237 units while the two-wheeler segment posted 12.2 percent YoY growth at 14,68,035 units, according to but the industry lobby—Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).