2014 has been the mix year for the automotive industry as some car makers enjoyed decent amount of success whereas some of them manage to satisfy themselves with average sales figures but December 2014 witnessed a complete story for almost every car maker as most of them registered healthy growth in Indian market. Festive season’s average sales somehow dented car manufactures sales figures and confidence too but November 2014 saw a little recovery and December sales graphs ended on a green note for the most car makers.
Maruti, India’s largest car manufacturer not only sold over 11 lakh units but achieved 13.3% growth in December 2014 as company sold 98,109 units in December 2014 as compared to 90,924 units in the same month of 2013. In export department MSI shipped 11,682 units.
Hyundai had a most successful year of its 16 year history in India selling over 4.10 lakh units in a calendar year and 21.6% market share plus Elite 20 getting Indian car of the year award adds cherry on the cake. In December 2014 Hyundai sold 32,504 units against 28,345 units in December 2013 recording a growth of 14.7% and Hyundai’s exports sees a growth of 29.6% with 26,861 units against 20,733 units in Dec 2013.
Commenting on the December sales Mr. Rakesh Srivastava, Sr. VP- Sales and Marketing, HMIL said, “In the challenging market conditions of CY 2014 Hyundai did all time record high sales of 4.11 lakh units with all time high projected market share of 21.8% in passenger cars on the strength of strong product portfolio, inspirational brand and customer focused strong channel.”
December 2014 proved most fruitful for Honda who witnessed growth of 163% thanks to 14,428 units sold compared to 5493 units in the same month of last year. Moreover Japanese car maker sold 1.79 lakh units registering 67% of total growth against 1.07 lakh units during last year (2013).
| Car name | Number of units (December 2014) |
| Honda City | 6102 |
| Honda Amaze | 5176 |
| Honda Mobilio | 2098 |
| Honda Brio | 1120 |
| Honda CR-V | 22 |
India’s leading SUV maker ‘Mahindra’ also registered 5% growth by selling 17,311 units in December 2014 against 16,436 vehicles in same month of last year, however M&M saw a dip in its total sales and domestic sales while its heavy vehicle division recorded 92% growth.
| Criteria | December 2014 | December 2013 |
| Total auto sales | 36,328 | 39,611 |
| Domestic sales | 34, 460 | 36,881 |
Ford India also joins the elite list of growth makers with 28.47% growth with total sales stood at 14,401 units for December 2014 as compared to 11,209 vehicles in December 2013. However following the same like M&M, Ford India’s domestic sales make a dip by 36.05% with only 5338 units in December 2014 which is almost half of the units sold in same of last year. But on the whole in 2014 company registered 29% growth in combined domestic wholesales.
Last but not the least its Toyota motors who registered a fine growth of 10 percent by selling 11,740 units against 10,648 units in December 2013.
Mr. N Raja – Director and Senior Vice – President, Sales and Marketing said, “In continuation of the November upswing, we have registered growth in the domestic and overall sales in December as well. This momentum can be attributed to the year ending. Customers have appreciated our Remember December campaign. We thank our customers for their support and look forward to serving them with Toyota’s quality services for years to come. Toyota wishes all its customers a happy and prosperous new year”.
Main reason for such an increase in sales last month was due to great offers and discounts offered by almost every carmaker to clear their inventory and another reason which might be the deciding factor in such increased sales is that every manufacture have announced the price hike from January 2015 and increase in excise duty by government.
