Motown musings

Slowdown pressures clearly weigh heavy on car sales as the festive cheer failed to add much fervour to demand in November, dampened by high interest rates and uncertain economic climate. While car market leader Maruti Suzuki and utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra managed to touch double-digit growth in November sales, others were not so lucky as the poor sentiment among buyers saw their volumes go down sharply year-on-year.
Talking about gainers, Maruti Suzuki had an edge from the launch of a refreshed version of its Alto800 mini. Aided by the new variant, the company's November volumes gained 10% at 90,882 units against 82,870 units in the same month last year. Mahindra has also been riding high on the back of new launches as well as low diesel prices that have ensured a steady flow of customers to its fold. The company, that recently added an entry-level SUV to its portfolio in the Quanto, sold 24,604 units at a growth of 38% against 17,813 units in the corresponding month of the previous year.
The going was not so good for other companies though and these included big names like Hyundai, the country's second-biggest car maker, and Tata Motors and Toyota. Hyundai had a near-flat month as it sold 34,751 units against 35,000 units in November last year.


Sales of medium and heavy trucks fell 30% in November, the steepest fall seen since the height of the global financial crisis in 2008-09, as slowing industrial activity, curbs on mining and delays in infrastructure projects, force buyers to postpone purchases.
The trucks segment, often touted to reflect the wheels of a nation's economy, has suffered deeply due to a stagnant economy and slumping industrial activity with truck purchases at their lowest since March of 2009, despite highest-ever discounts Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 1.75 lakh. India’s largest commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors led this decline, revealing a 40% drop for November 2012 with sales of 9,495 units compared with over 16,000 units in November 2011. Prior to this, the steepest fall in sales of medium and heavy trucks seen by Tata Motors was 43 months ago on February of 2009, when India's largest automobile firm in terms of sales revenues witnessed a decline of 48%.
Tata Motors had said that it is operating at 70-75% of capacity.
According to several vendors supplying to the top three truck-makers in India, there is an under-utilisation in capacity of around 30-35% across the sector.