Domestic car sales February 2017: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Renault, Ford, Honda, Nissan, TKM report growth; Mahindra sees decline

Most of the car makers in India reported robust growth in domestic volume sales for February 2017. 

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), India's largest car maker by volume sales, posted 11.7 percent increase, Hyundai Motor India 4 percent, Renault India 26.8 percent, Ford India 52 percent growth and Honda posted 9.4 percent. Nissan volumes grew 25 percent and TKM's 12 percent.

Exports grew sharply for Ford and Hyundai but Maruti Suzuki reported muted increase.

MSIL sold 120,735 cars and exported 9,545 units in comparison to 108,115 cars in domestic sales and shipped 9,336 out of India in February 2016, respectively. The share price of MSIL was up 0.88 percent at Rs 5,975 at around 10.35 am on the BSE.

Read: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota, Nissan, Ford post growth in January 2017 car sales

The utility vehicle (UV) segment saw sales more than double to 17,863 units in February 2017 as against 8,484 vehicles in February 2016. The company sells four models — Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross and Vitara Brezza — in this segment and the spurt was due to Vitara Brezza that was not there last February (it was launched in March 2016).

Segments that recorded a decline in volume sales include mini (Alto, WagonR) and super compact (Dzire Tour), while the compact segment comprising Swift, Ritz, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, Dzire saw volumes grow 9.4 percent to 47,002 cars.

Hyundai Motor India

The Indian arm of the Korean car maker sold 52,734 cars in February 2017, including 10,407 units exported during the month. In the corresponding period last year, it had sold 49,729 units that included exports of 10,407 cars.

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is the largest passenger car exporter and the second largest car manufacturer in India. It currently has eleven car models across segments – Eon, i10, Grand i10, Elite i20, Active i20, Xcent, Verna, Creta, Elantra, Tucson and Santa Fe.

Renault India volumes up

The Indian subsidiary of French car maker Renault S.A.S sold 11,198 units in February 2017, up from 8,834 in the corresponding month last year. Renault India cars are manufactured in the manufacturing facility located in Oragadam, Chennai, with a capacity of 480,000 units per annum.

Ford India exports rise sharply

American car maker Ford Motors's India arm sold 8,338 vehicles in the domestic market, up 52 percent from 5,483 in February 2016. Exports rose to 15,688 vehicles as against 11,823 units in the year-ago period.

Honda reverses negative trend

Honda Cars India saw growth after many months, with domestic sales rising 9.4 percent to 14,249 units as against 13,020 in February 2016. Exports stood at 748 units.

"The market has shown positive sentiment during February and HCIL has also benefitted from it. This month's sales growth has been driven by an excellent response to the New Honda City 2017, which has received over 10,000 bookings so far. We are thankful to our customers for their support to Honda and hope this momentum will continue," Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd., said in a statement.

Nissan India posts robust growth

Sales at Nissan India grew 25 percent to 4,807 units from 3,850 cars in February 2016. "Our strong sales performance in February maintains the Nissan Group's position as the second-fastest growing car brand in India so far this fiscal year. Our growth story has been driven by the continued success of Datsun redi-GO," Arun Malhotra, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd., said in a statement.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) volumes up

TKM sold 11,543 cars in domestic sales during February 2017, up 12 percent from 10,312 units in February 2016.

"Both the new Fortuner & Innova Crysta have been performing consistently, attributing to TKM's domestic growth. The Fortuner which captures more than 70% segment share in the SUV segment, has sold 2027 units in February making it the highest ever sales for Fortuner in a month ever since its launch in India in 2009," N. Raja, Director & Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said in a statement.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) disappoints 

Mahindra's passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market declined 13 percent to 20,605 units from 23,718 units in February 2016.

"The auto industry is seeing some positive trends emerging over the last two months. With rural sentiments improving, we believe that there will be a turnaround in demand over the next few months for the small commercial vehicles space. The industry is also waiting for the implementation of the BS 4 norms from April 2017 and at Mahindra, we have geared the supply chain so that there is no strain in moving to meet the new emissions norms," Pravin Shah, President & Chief Executive (Automotive), M&M Ltd. said, in a statement.

Car sales had grown by 10.83 per cent in January 2017, but two-wheeler sales plunged 7.39 per cent. The sales of commercial vehicles remained almost flat.