Year-end brings in cheer to motown

December sales bought in cheer to the top carmakers of the country as sales moved northbound on a year-on-year basis.

- Ritwik Sinha

The country’s largest passenger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has reported sales of 160,226 units in December, a growth of just 0.2 percent over December of 2019.

Total sales include domestic sales of 146,480 units and 3,808 units for other OEMs. In addition, the company exported 9,938 units in December, MSI said in a statement.

In the passenger vehicle segment, MSI reported a 14.6 percent growth in sales at 140,754 units in December, as against 122,784 units in the same month last year. Maruti sold 24,927 units of Alto 800 and S-Presso last month as compared to 23,883 units in December 2019, marking a 4.4 percent growth.

However, the sales of other vehicles like WagonR, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, and Dzire grew by 18.2 percent, from 65,673 units in December 2019 to 77,641 units last month.

MSI utility vehicles like Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, XL6, and S-Cross also registered 8 percent sales growth, from 23,808 units in December 2019 to 25,701 units in December 2020. However, Maruti Suzuki’s flagship sedan – Ciaz – didn’t have as many takers in December 2020 as compared to December 2019 with sales dropping by 28.9 percent, from 1,786 units to 1,270 units.

During Q3 of FY21, MSI posted total sales of 495,897 registering a growth of 13.4 percent over the same period previous year.

Hyundai Motor

Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) registered cumulative sales of 66,750 units, up by 33.14 percent as compared to 50,135 units in the corresponding month of the previous year. In December, Hyundai’s domestic sales stood at 47,400 units and exports of 19,350 units.

Cumulative sales during April-December stood at 522,542 units, which includes domestic sales of 423,642 units and exports of 98,900 units.