Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor reported an over 4% fall each in domestic sales in December 2016 as the companies adjusted production to rationalise inventory at dealerships. Maruti sold 1,06,414 units, 4.4% less than the 1,11,333 units it sold in the year ago period, while Hyundai's sales fell 4.3% to 40,057 units.
Maruti said the production in December was as per its internal plan. The company had shut down its facilities for a week in December for scheduled maintenance.
It had earlier said that the sale of its passenger vehicles, hit by demonetisation in November, was seeing a reversal in December.
Maruti, with an order backlog of 1,00,000 units for premium compact Baleno and compact SUV Vitara Brezza, said it is on course to meet its annual production target of around 1.5 million units in 2016.
Hyundai said that its wholesale sales for 2016 grew 5.2% despite the slight fall in December, helping it achieve the domestic sales milestone of 0.5 million units for the first time.
The company's Japanese rival Toyota fared better, registering the highest sale in December in the last five years driven by new launches. It sold 12,747 units, a growth of 22%.
In the motorcycle segment, Royal Enfield said it has posted a sales growth of 41% at 56,316 units. Its parent Eicher Motors' commercial vehicle venture, however, was hit adversely by demonetisation, with sales falling 21% to 3,246 units.
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