Indian auto sales continue uptrend in January

Auto sales in India rose 10pc in January from a year ago with passenger car and farm segments performing well. Honda car sales more than doubled in January and Toyota Kirloskar reported a 92pc growth over last year. 

Passenger car segment

Maruti Suzuki reported a marginal growth of 4pc in auto sales including exports and domestic sales. The company sold 160,725 units in Jan. Tata Motor’s passenger vehicle sales rose 15pc to 26,978 units in January from the previous year levels. 

Toyota sold 11,126 units, up 92pc from the previous year. Honda sold 11,320 units, 114pc higher from a year back. Kia sold 19,056 units, up 23pc and Hyundai sold 52,005 units, 24pc higher from 2019. 

Farm vehicles

Farm segment manufacturer Escorts registered a growth of 49pc to 9,021 units in January from the previous year. Mahindra’s farm segment sales rose 50pc to 34,778 units. 

The tractor market continues to be strong on back of positive macro-economic factors and strong rural cash flows, Escorts noted. The supply side situation is normalizing and is no longer expected to be a bottleneck to meet demand. However, rising inflation continues to be a worry, according to the company.

Two-wheeler sales 

TVS sales rose 31pc to 307,149 units in January from the previous year. Hero Motocorp registered sales 3pc lower at 485,889 units compared to 2019. Royal Enfield sold 68,887 units, up 8pc from the previous year. 

Bajaj Auto’s two-wheeler sales rose 16pc to 384,936 units in January with highest ever exports recorded, higher 30pc from the previous year. 

Heavy Commercial Vehicles

Ashok Leyland sales rose 11pc to 13,126 units in January from prior year. Eicher Motor’s heavy vehicles sales were recorded at 5,673 units, up 2pc from the previous year. Tata’s medium and heavy vehicle sales have up 22pc from the last year at 8,416 units. Heavy vehicle segment has improved in January, according to the data. .