Auto sales for FY10 at record high, but subdued start in April
Auto sales for FY10 at record high, but subdued start in April
Auto sales touched a record high in FY10 on positive consumer sentiment and partially due to advanced buying at the dealers’ end in anticipation of price hike due to change in the emission norms from 1 April. However, the first month of FY11 began with sequential slippage in volumes, owing to increase in product prices and short supply of spare parts.
This was largely due to the sustained hike in commodity prices, change in emission norms and excise duty hike. Hence, most auto firms passed on the cost impact with the hike in prices. Volumes of most firms showed signs of tapering off growth for the month. Nonetheless, pick-up in economic activities is expected to keep demand strong, albeit more normalized across segments, considering demand may have peaked in the past few months prior to the expected price hikes after the excise duty hike and spurt in raw material prices.
Tata Motors Ltd reported a robust 52.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in total volumes, with the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment leading the growth at 63.1% y-o-y, followed by the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment growing at 28.4% y-o-y. Exports also boosted the company’s performance, reporting robust y-o-y growth of 148.8% partially on a low base. Passenger cars also recorded a healthy growth of 76.8% y-o-y with new launches by the company, such as Manza, clocking good volumes.
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