Auto sales continue to remain under pressure in January

NEW DELHI: Passenger vehicle sales last month remained tepid with consumer deterring purchases amid a rise in cost of ownership.At Maruti Suzuki, sales inched up by a marginal 1.1% to 142150 units in January. While sales of mini cars Alto and WagonR remained almost flat at 33408 units, those of compacts (Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, DZire) fell 3.5% to 65523 units. Demand for midsize sedan Ciaz too slumped 42% to 2934 units. Utility vehicles – Vitara Brezza and S-Cross – fared better with volumes going up 8.4% to 22430 units.The company sold 2710 units of light commercial vehicle Super Carry, which is an increase of 92.1% over 1411 units sold in the year-ago period.R S Kalsi, senior executive director (marketing & sales) at Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) in a recent interaction told ET, “Carmakers offered record discounts in December on account of which there was some advancement in purchases. This affected demand in January.”In the commercial vehicle segment too, Ashok Leyland registered a 12% increase in volumes at 18533 units. On the other hand, VE Commercial Vehicles posted a 13.5% drop in volumes in the domestic market selling 5275 units.

from Economic Times http://bit.ly/2G3mY6Z
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