Maruti Suzuki sales up 23.8%; Toyota Kirloskar sales down 6.86% in August

India's largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) today reported 23.8 per cent increase in total sales at 1,63,701 units in August as against 1,32,211 units in the year-ago month. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), however, reported a 6.86 per cent decline in total sales.

The company's domestic sales stood at 1,52,000 units, up 26.7 per cent from 1,19,931 units in August last year, MSI said in a statement.

The auto major said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Dzire and Baleno jumped by 62.4 per cent to 74,012 units last month as against 45,579 units in the year-ago month.

MSI said sales of mid-sized sedan Ciaz grew by 3.9 per cent to 6,457 units during the month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara, Ertiga, S-Cross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza increased by 27.6 per cent to 21,442 units in August, from 16,806 units in the same month of 2016.

Meanwhile, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today reported 6.86 per cent decline in total sales at 13,081 units in August.

The company had sold a total of 14,045 units in the same month last year, TKM said in a statement.

Domestic sales declined 6.12 per cent at 12,017 units in August as against 12,801 units in the same month last year.

TKM exported 1,064 units of the Etios series in August 2017 as compared to 1,244 units in the same month last year, a decline of 14.47 per cent.

TKM Director and Senior Vice-President - Sales and Marketing N Raja said: "Our sales numbers this month are not truly reflective of the existing customer orders. Post the announcement on potential cess hike, there was a considerable rise in customer enquiries and orders."

He said the company faced production limitations which held it back from catching up with high demand and holidays in August also led to lesser number of production days.

"With the demand on the rise, the current waiting period for Innova has gone up to around 6-8 weeks and Fortuner is around 10-12 weeks respectively," Raja added.

Demand for hybrid product Camry Hybrid has fallen significantly owing to the price hike after GST implementation, he said, adding the company was hoping that the government would reinstate "the preferential (lower) tax rate in favour of clean and green technologies such as strong hybrids similar to pre-GST era".

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on the other hand reported 9 per cent increase in domestic sales at 47,103 units in August. The company had sold 43,201 units in August 2016, HMIL said in a statement.

Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL), leading manufacturer of passenger cars in India, registered monthly domestic sales of 17,365 units in August 2017 against 13,941 units in corresponding month last year, registering a growth of 25%.

"HCIL continues to record strong sales in August led by City and WR-V. The festive purchases have already begun in some parts of the country and we expect the festival season to further boost our sales numbers in the next two months. HCIL has announced 'The Great Honda Fest' from today and we want our customers to take this opportunity to get maximum benefits on the purchase of their Honda car," Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd said. 

(with PTI inputs)