February 2009 Postive For Automakers

Automobile sales jumped back to the positive charts as major manufacturers posted double digit growth for the first time in past eight
months.

Maruti sales in domestic market grew 19% to 70,625 units in February 2009 compared to 59,311 units in the same month a year-ago, while South Korean major Hyundai Motor registered a 45.3% growth to 21,215 units in domestic market. Hero Honda sales grew 24% to 3.29 lakh units in January 2009 over same corresponding period last year.

Bajaj Auto Ltd posted 17% increase in two wheeler sales to 1.59 lakh units with major jump coming from its recently launched 135 cc bike XCD of which the company sold 20,688 unit in January. TVS Motors posted a 13% growth to 1.07 lakh units in February 2009 against 95,235 units in the corresponding period of the previous year.

M&M’s total volumes in the auto sector (including joint ventures) for February 2009 stood at 19594 units (18379 units). The company sold a total of 19894 vehicles during the month against 19674 vehicles in the previous corresponding period. M&M exported 300 units in February 2009, as against 1295 units exported in February 2008.