The Hindu Business Line : Festive Oct sees record auto sales

FESTIVE October seems to have been a `record breaking' month for both passenger cars and two-wheeler companies alike. According to estimates, motorcycles led the growth in the automotive segment in the month with sales growth of 30 per cent.

Bajaj Auto: Bajaj Auto recorded its highest ever two-wheeler sales in the month, with the tally increasing by 40 per cent to 2,19,927 units.

The company's motorcycles sales grew 43 per cent to 2,05,012 units that month. It reported a 37 per cent growth in total 2&3-wheeler sales for October 2005, to 2,41,808 units (1,76,693 units).

Three-wheeler sales touched 21,881 units (19,062 units), a growth of 15 per cent.

Exports for the period were up 49 per cent at 22,713 units (15,262 units).

Tata Motors: Tata Motors reported 17.2 per cent growth in total sale of 41,338 vehicles (including exports) for October, from 35,283 units in the corresponding period last year.

Domestic commercial vehicle sales rose 18.2 per cent to 19,700 units (16,667 units), with M&HCV sales at 11,520 units and LCVs at 8,180 units, an official statement said.

Passenger vehicle business showed 5.4 per cent increase in total sales to 17,205 units (16,332 units). Separate sales figures for passenger cars and utility vehicles were not available.

October exports were up 94.1 per cent at 4,433 units (2,284 units).

For the year till date, total vehicle sales increased 9.5 per cent to 2,36,304 units, including domestic CV sales at 1,07,045 units and passenger vehicles at 1,01,347 units.

Cumulative exports till last month grew 116.8 per cent to 27,912 units.

Hero Honda: Hero Honda said that while its retail sales crossed the four-lakh milestone, dispatch during the month also reached an unprecedented high of 3,02,000 units, marking a jump of 23.02 per cent compared to the corresponding month in 2004.

The company had recorded dispatch of 2,45,475 units in October 2004.

The going has been good for passenger carmakers as well.

Hyundai Motor: Helped by festive period demand, Hyundai Motor India, for instance, clocked its highest ever sales in October with a tally of 24,762 vehicles. While the growth in the domestic market in the month was 19 per cent over the corresponding month in 2004, the cumulative growth stood at 9 per cent.

Honda Siel: According to the company, due to strong festive season demand in the domestic market, exports fell by 5 per cent over the corresponding month in the previous year.

Honda Siel Cars India sold over 4,000 units of the Honda City in October.

According to the company, it has received bookings for over 2,000 units for the City ZX within two weeks of its launch. In addition to the bookings for City ZX range, the company has also sold 2,000 units of the earlier City range, thereby, completely selling out the City ZX predecessor.

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