Maruti in rebound, but auto slump on

India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) led a revival in demand for the domestic automobile industry in October as new launches and the start of the festive season provided some cheer to the market. HT reports. Lighting up the mood

India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) led a revival in demand for the domestic automobile industry in October as new launches and the start of the festive season provided some cheer to the market.

Maruti’s sales grew by almost 87% to over 96,000 units during the month, aided by the first revamp of its best-selling car Alto in the middle of last month.

The firm’s numbers were helped by a low base effect from last year when it suffered from a three-month long strike that crippled production.

Even then, this was Maruti’s best show in a month in absolute terms in this fiscal year.

“I will not say it is a dramatic turnaround yet but there is some sort of an improvement in sentiment,” said Mayank Pareek, chief operating officer (marketing and sales), MSIL.

Arch-rival Hyundai’s sales grew by 8.4% while homegrown Mahindra and Mahindra and Japanese Honda Cars witnessed over 40% rise in sales.

“The festival season brought in positive growth in domestic sales,” said Rakesh Srivastava, vice-president, marketing and sales, Hyundai Motor India.

“In the coming months the challenge would be to convert customer interest into sales as the general inflationary trend, high fuel prices and interest rates are still keeping sentiments low.”

“The market continues to remain subdued due to high interest rates and other negative sentiments,” said P Balendran, vice-president, General Motors India.