Indian Auto Market Posts October Sales Record

MUMBAI – India’s October light-vehicle sales jumped 33.4% to 292,611 units, a record for the month.

Buyer enthusiasm during the festival season, coupled with new models, big discounts, price cuts and imaginative promotions made this possible.

Auto makers offered rebates ranging from from Rs25,000 ($480) on small cars to

Rs500,000 ($9,600) on super-luxury models. Tata reduced the price of its Safari Dicor SUV by Rs180,000 ($3,460) and by lesser amounts on gasoline-powered cars and multipurpose vehicles. Even the entry-level Nano was discounted Rs40,000 ($770).

Toyota dropped the price of its Toyota Etios sedan and Etios Liva hatchback by up to Rs50,000 ($960), as did Hyundai with its i10 sedan and Santro hatchback variant. Maruti Suzuki cars were sold at substantial discounts.

Also contributing to October’s record deliveries were vehicles powered by efficient and powerful diesel engines.

Perhaps most importantly, many small cars, comfortable sedans, 5-seat SUVs and 7-seat MPVs were redesigned with a length of less than 13 ft., 2 in. (4 m) to fit into the lowest tax bracket of 12% .

October new-car sales climbed 22.8% to 171,479 units and light trucks surged 51.8% to 121,132 units, compared with like-2011, WardsAuto data shows. Last year’s result was depressed by labor troubles at Maruti Suzuki and a slowdown in the economy. Last month’s total nevertheless was 7.2% better than September’s tally of 273,018.

Vishnu Mathur, director general-Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, acknowledges “there is some cheer” to be found in the latest results, but cautions the next two months will be “quite critical.”

The October revival was led by India’s four biggest auto makers’ combined 41.2% gain, compared with year-ago, to a combined 231,904 units. Maruti Suzuki, with its new Ertiga MPV, facelifted Alto 5-door hatchback and Swift Dzire sedan leading the charge, saw an 86.6% spike to 96,002.

Tata’s Aria cross/utility vehicle and Ace Magic, the passenger version of its Ace small commercial vehicle, helped boost the auto maker’s deliveries 19.2% to 56,024 units. The Quanto 7-seat SUV’s versatility and its position in the low-tax bracket contributed to Mahindra & Mahindra’s 34.8% improvement to 44,100 units.

Hyundai India, lacking an appealing diesel or utility vehicle, was bypassed by the October boom; its sales rose by less than 0.5% to 35,778 units, compared with year-ago. “In the coming months, the challenge would be to convert customer interest into sales in the face of high fuel prices and interest rates,” Vice President Rakesh Srivastava says.

Honda India deliveries surged 46.3% to 8,085 with an assist from the Brio compact and its small-car low-tax pricing. The stalwart Innova compact MPV helped Toyota grow 19% to 12,281.

Among the German super-luxury models, Mercedes-Benz car and light-truck sales climbed 26.2% to 732 units in October, while BMW deliveries fell 12.7% to 790. Audi vaulted past its rivals, soaring 70.6% to 882.

Volkswagen India, Skoda and Nissan India all suffered sales declines last month, but Renault India deliveries skyrocketed 39-fold, from 173 year-ago to 6,790 units. Renault’s Duster SUV reportedly ranked 36th in Indian sales in July, its first month on the market, then jumped to 21st in September and 15th in October.

General Motors India, which has yet to launch its China-built Sail compact and sedan in India, and Ford, with its forthcoming EcoSport SUV, saw their combined October sales skid 20.9% from like-2011 to 14,323 units.

Several compact but spacious 7-seat MPVs in the low-tax bracket are likely to reach showrooms by March, leaving auto makers cautiously optimistic that brighter days for the market lie ahead.