New Delhi/Chennai: Robust demand along with low base effect and end of season discount offers led to automobile manufacturers reporting healthy sales figures for December.
Automobile major Tata Motors reported a rise of 52 per cent in its commercial and passenger vehicles domestic sales to 54,627 units as against 35,825 units sold in December 2016.
Tata Motors said the strong sales performance for December 2017 was due to the increasing demand for vehicles across segments, new product launches and strategic customer initiatives.
“The commercial sector has shown good recovery after the headwinds and regulatory challenges of last year. The steady production ramp-up of the new range of BS4 vehicles and continued uptick in sales in consumption-driven sectors have led the growth,” the auto major said in a statement.
“The company recorded the highest ever December sales for Passenger Vehicles since 2012 and the retail sales for this month was also the highest in last 6 years. Strong performance of Tiago, Tigor, Hexa and Nexon drove the growth momentum for Tata Motors.”
Similarly, Ford India’s combined domestic wholesales and exports in December recorded
healthy growth of 27 per cent to 29,795 vehicles compared to 23,470 vehicles in the same month last year.
Commercial vehicles major Ashok Leyland sales grew by 79 per cent last month to 19,253 vehicles, up from 10,731 vehicles sold in December 2016.
For the period April-December 2017, the company sold 116,141 vehicles up from 97,445 vehicles sold in December 2016.
Two-and-three wheeler major Bajaj Auto sales rose by 30 per cent to 292,547 units from 225,529 units sold during December 2016.
The company’s domestic sales during the month under review increased by 25 per cent to 149,509 units from an off-take of 119,725 reported in the corresponding month of 2016.
Exports rose by 35 per cent to 143,038 units being shipped-out during December 2017 from 105,804 units sold abroad during the like period of 2016.
The company’s total motorcycle sales during the month under review grew by 13 per cent to 228,762 units from 203,312 units.
Besides, the overall commercial vehicle sales surged by 187 per cent to 63,785 units from 22,217 units sold during December 2016.
In addition, two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp sold 472,731 units in December 2017, as against 330,202 units in the corresponding month of 2016, registering a growth of 43 per cent.
The company has also surpassed the landmark seven million units in cumulative sales in a calendar year. It sold 7,207,363 units of two-wheelers in the period January-December 2017.
“Despite the challenging industry environment, we successfully created a series of benchmarks, not only for the Indian market but also for the global automotive industry,” said Pawan Munjal, Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Hero MotoCorp.
“We are now entering the last quarter of this fiscal with a strong focus on the premium segment and scooters and we are confident of sustaining our growth momentum.”
IANS