New Delhi: Home grown auto major Tata Motors reported Sunday a 58 per cent decline in its domestic passenger vehicle sales at 7,316 units in August. The company had sold 17,351 units in the same month last year, the company said in a statement.
Commenting on the sales performance, president Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Mayank Pareek said the market continued to be challenging, but the company is focused on improving its retail sales, which saw an uptick of 42 per cent.
“We are hopeful that the recently announced financial package by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will help in improving the liquidity of market and to reduce the ownership cost. This will certainly help the industry to revive and drive the growth,” said Pareek.
In the commercial vehicles segment, Tata Motors said its total sales were down 45 per cent at 21,824 units last month as against 39,859 units in August 2018.
Girish Wagh, president, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit said subdued demand sentiment due to poor freight availability, lower freight rates and general slowdown in economy continued to hamper demand of commercial vehicles.
“System stock reduction through retail focus and aligning production will continue to be our approach, while cautiously monitoring the market in these challenging times,” Wagh said and added that as a result, retail sales are estimated to be ahead of wholesale by over 25 per cent in August.
“We are looking forward to a positive impact of the recently announced stimulus package by the government,” Wagh informed.
It was the same story for Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM). It reported Sunday a 21 per cent decline in total sales at 11,544 units in August. The company had sold 14,581 units in the same month last year, the company said in a statement.
Sales in the domestic market stood at 10,701 units as compared to 14,100 units in August 2018, down 24 per cent. However, exports during the month increased nearly two-fold to 843 units as against 481 in the year-ago month, TKM said.
Meanwhile Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) reported a 51.28 per cent decline in domestic sales at 8,291 units in August as against 17,020 units in the same month last year. The company also exported 227 units last month.
“The auto sector continues to witness high de-growth due to poor consumer sentiment,” HCIL senior vice-president and director, sales and marketing Rajesh Goel said in a statement.
PTI