Maruti, Toyota, Mahindra Post Decline in June Sales - Wall Street Journal (India)

NEW DELHI—Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the country's largest car maker by sales, posted its sixth straight drop in monthly sales in June, as rising fuel prices and high loan rates continued to weigh on purchasing decisions by customers. Amit Dave/Reuters A Suzuki badge is reflected on the body of an Eeco car at a Maruti Suzuki stockyard on the outskirts of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad in this file photo. Sales at the local unit of Toyota Motor Corp. and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. also fell in June, but South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co., the second-largest car maker in India, eked out a marginal increase. Total sales at Maruti fell 13% in June to 84,455 vehicles from 96,597 a year earlier. Sales in the local market dropped 7.8% to 77,002 vehicles, while exports plunged 43% to 453 vehicles. Car sales in India have been hit by a combination of several factors—the key being rising prices of gasoline and diesel, as well as high borrowing costs amid an economic slowdown. Local car sales fell for the first time in a decade in the financial year ended on March 31, when the Indian economy expanded by 5%, its weakest pace in a decade. Maruti—the biggest overseas unit of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp.--is considered the benchmark of the vitality of India's car market as the company sells small cars, which comprise about three fourth of overall car sales in Asia's third-biggest economy. June production at Maruti was also affected by factory shutdowns. The company shut both its factories last month for six days for annual maintenance. It also closed the factories for two additional days to adjust inventory in line with dwindling demand. Car sales in India are counted as factory dispatches, and not retail sales. Sales of Maruti's M800, Alto, A-Star and WagonR small cars fell 8.4% to 31,314 units in June, while that of the Swift, Estilo and Ritz hatchbacks declined 7.2% to 20,996 units. Hyundai Motor India Ltd. reported a 0.6% rise in total sales in June to 54,667 units. The company's local sales grew 0.5% to 30,610 vehicles, while exports rose 0.6% to 24,057 vehicles. Sales at Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. declined 19% in June to 13,805 vehicles. Sandeep Singh, the company's deputy managing director and chief operating officer for marketing and commercial, said: "The overall weak economic conditions continue to keep the market sentiments low and the market sluggish". Mahindra & Mahindra, the largest maker of SUVs in India, recorded a 7.8% fall in total vehicle sales in June to 38,092 autos. The figure included sales of 17,232 SUVs and the Verito car, a decline of 13% from the year-earlier period. Mahindra makes SUVs such as the Quanto, XUV500 and Scorpio. via Business - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGERXf-8OS5WBkjks3_hDd2ScMTow&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323936404578578954080900558.html

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