Motown musings

The auto sales for the month of August 2013 turned out to be a mixed bag. While the sentiment remained sluggish due to soaring fuel prices and high interest rates, there were a few passenger vehicle makers and two-wheeler companies who managed to post marginal growth in a slowdown.
Carmakers are now betting on the festive season, that starts this month, to pep-up sales, in what has been the most challenging year in a decade. Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker by volumes, posted a growth of 51.6% to 76,018 units, on the back of low base of August 2012, when the company’s production was hit by Manesar plant strike. But the company's average monthly sales still remain lower than last year. Hyundai Motor India posted a flattish numbers of 28,311 units and continuing demand for Amaze and EcoSport drove Honda Cars India and Ford India sales growth by 63% and 2% respectively.

German car maker Volkswagen too posted a growth of 9% in August 2013. Since the numbers declared are wholesale numbers, companies have started filling the pipeline with hope of a better festive season. The retail sales still are a challenge for many.
Barring the few, industry players say the situation remains grim on ground zero and sentiment is low due to tough macro economic environment. Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar announced a decline in sales for August, as utility vehicles seem to be going out of favour due to rising diesel prices.
If one excludes EcoSport and Amaze for Ford India and Honda Cars India respectively, the other models in their portfolio continue to struggle. However, the two carmakers are trying their best to make the most of the demand for winner models Amaze and EcoSport by ramping up capacity. Unlike passenger vehicle makers, the two-wheeler makers painted a relatively better picture for August, some of it could have been led by thriving rural markets.
Hero MotoCorp posted a growth of 4% to 4.59 lakh units, but Bajaj Auto posted a decline of 8% in motorcycle sales for August 2013 at 3.04 lakh units. Honda Motorcycle & Scooters India continues to buck the trend fuelled by its new capacity and mass market motorcycles and newly-launched Centuro motorcycle too rode Mahindra twowheeler sales growth by 66%.