Discounts, price hike fear drive up car sales in India by 8 pc in Dec

New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) Indian passenger car segment witnessed a high single-digit growth rate of 8.49 per cent in December 2011 as heavy discounts lured customers to showrooms, besides an imminent price hike from this month pushing sales further. Meanwhile, sales of the overall Indian automobile sector in 2011 increased by 14.25 per cent to 1,69,13,355 units from 1,48,04,108 units in 2010, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said today at the ongoing 11th Auto Expo here. During December 2011, domestic passenger car sales jumped by 8.49 per cent to 1,59,325 units compared to 1,46,856 units in the same month a year ago, SIAM said. "What I am told in the market is that the discounts in December and the expectations of a price hike in January had an impact on sales positively," SIAM President S Sandilya told reporters here. The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India posted sales of 69,329 units, down 8.36 per cent from the same month previous year. However, rival Hyundai Motor India's sales grew by 12.98 per cent to 29,449 units from December 2010, while Tata Motors' sales increased by 39.68 per cent to 23,661 units. According to SIAM, total two-wheeler sales in December 2011 increased by 8.52 per cent to 10,91,982 units from 10,06,289 units in the same period of previous year. Motorcycle sales in the country during the month grew by 7.27 per cent to 8,07,829 units from 7,53,102 units in the same month previous year. Market leader Hero Honda witnessed a growth of 7.93 per cent at 4,88,604 units as compared to the same month a year ago, SIAM said. Rival Bajaj Auto logged 1,69,485 units, up 2.43 per cent from the corresponding month previous year. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) saw its bike sales going up by 29.28 per cent to 69,581 units as compared to the same month previous year. However, TVS Motor Co had a sales of 39,198 units, down 12.11 per cent from the same month a year go year. On the scooters front, sales grew by 16.23 per cent to 2,18,974 units in December 2011 as against 1,88,391 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said. The growth in the segment was led by HMSI with an increase of 44.52 per cent at 1,10,282 units during last month. TVS Motor's scooter sales were at 42,370 units, a rise of 6.02 per cent, while that of Hero Honda increased marginally at 36,546 units. Total sales of commercial vehicles during the month jumped by 14.50 per cent to 72,192 units from 63,048 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said. Light commercial vehicle sales rose by 19.07 per cent in December 2011 to 41,234 units from 34,631 units in the same month in 2010. Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales were up 8.94 per cent at 30,958 units during the month from 28,417 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said. Three-wheeler sales during December 2011 were down 3.42 per cent to 42,219 units compared to 43,715 units in the year ago period, it added. In December 2011, total sale of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 8.45 per cent to 14,13,709 units as against 13,03,516 units in the same month of 2010. For the entire 2011 calender year, the Indian automobile sector witnessed a healthy growth of 14.25 per cent at 1,69,13,355 units despite sluggish demand slowing down the important passenger car segment. SIAM said sales of domestic passenger car went up by 4.24 per cent in 2011 to 19,46,373 units from 18,67,246 units in 2010. The total two-wheeler segment increased by 16.22 per cent to 1,30,93,288 units last year from 1,12,65,587 units in the previous year, it added. Motorcycle sales in the country rose by 14.97 per cent to 99,46,173 units from 86,51,051 units in 2010, while scooter sales were up by 23.18 per cent to 23,99,330 units last month from 19,47,779 units. The three-wheeler segment too saw its sales going up by 4.74 per cent in 2011 to 5,25,810 units from 5,01,993 units in 2010, SIAM said. PTI