November 2004 saw India’s passenger car sales rise 21% year on year to 70,465 units. Impressive growth was posted at the end of a delayed festive season stretching into mid-month as car makers offered tempting discounts.
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Market leader Maruti Udyog shifted 35,237 units to gain 13.5 % year on year. Hyundai Motors India followed with a huge 43.2% rise in sales to 15,834 units. These two enticed the market with fancy discounts, with Hyundai India booking over 25,000 Santro Xings. Maruti claimed that it did better in terms of bookings but did not disclose any figures, releasing the usual sales delivery data instead.
The growth of passenger car sales at Tata Motors was steady at 26% year-on-year or 10,448 units. These three manufacturers cornered 87.3% of the market.
Honda SIEL cars has consistently improved its performance this year aided by boosted production capacity. In November, it sold around 93% more cars (3,143 units) year on year. Ford India also managed to up its sales by 15%, despite its aging three-box Fiesta derivative, the Ikon.
It wasn’t a good month for GM India and Hindustan Motors. Both dropped volume by 17.6% and 8.3% respectively. With more Octavia variants, Skoda sold 37% more cars (549 units). It has recently added the turbocharged 1.8T petrol version and an automatic diesel.
Fiscal year April to November 2004 sales of 530,094 cars are up 22%, beating the industry target of 10 to 15% growth.
Deepesh Rathore / Tilak Swarup
