Festive season records high passenger car sales

The festive month of October saw record gains for India's domestic auto industry. 

Tata Motors

Tata Motors' passenger vehicles recorded sales of 16,311 units – its highest ever in the last four years. It saw a growth of 28 percent compared to the 12,747 units sold in October 2015. Cumulative sales were at 88,976 units, a growth of 15 percent, compared to the 77,465 units in October 2015. 

While the Tiago's success story continues with a growing sales trend, interestingly, it was the Zest that recorded its highest-ever sales figure since launch, according to a company release. The success of the Tiago seems to have had a positive impact on Tata Motors, and the company hopes the soon-to-be launched Hexa will carry forward this momentum. 

Hyundai

Hyundai Motor India too recorded its highest-ever domestic sales with 50,016 units, a 6.4 percent growth from the same period last year. Hyundai crossed the 50,000 unit mark within 15 months of its earlier 40,000 unit milestone.

The company's newly launched Elantra managed to stir up interest in the executive sedan segment, receiving bookings for 1,509 units, well above the company’s expectations. Currently, the car has a waiting period of up to five months.

Export figures for both companies recorded growth, with commercial vehicles proving to be the big contributor for Tata Motors.

Volkswagen

German carmaker Volkswagen registered a sales growth of 70 percent in India with dispatches to the tune of 5,534 units in October, up from 3,255 units sold during the same month last year. The strong growth was led by the upbeat response for the diesel variant of the Ameo compact sedan launched on September 30, 2016.  

Maruti Suzuki

The country’s largest auto maker Maruti, however, recorded a small growth, selling over 1.23 lakh units in the domestic market. The Brezza has proved to be a super hit for the company, propping the total sales figures up, despite cars like the Alto, WagonR and Swift Dzire showing de-growth. 

Unlike Hyundai and Tata, Maruti has lost out on exports as the company focused on the domestic market in an attempt to clear the Brezza and Baleno backlog. 

Renault

Renault India has seen its fortunes rise exponentially on the back of an astounding response to the Kwid. As of today, Renault India has posted a growth of 67.8 percent, with sales of 12,409 units in October, up from 7,396 units during the same period last year. The carmaker crossed the one lakh sales mark with cumulative sales of 111,387 units in January-October 2016.