New auto sales drop in December

Sales of new automobiles dropped in December, as the truck-buying spree of the previous month lost momentum, Statistics Canada reported.

Sales dropped 4.8% to 128,210 units, with the sale of trucks dropping almost 7% to 69,998 units, it said. The sale of passenger cars dropped for a second month, declining 2.2% to 58,212 units.

For the whole of 2010, new motor vehicle sales jumped 6.7%, as an 18.4% gain in truck sales outweighed a 4.8% drop in car sales.

Last year was a bumper year for Canadian truck sales, accounting for 55% of all vehicles sold. It was the first time since records began in 1946 that trucks outstripped passenger car sales.

In December, sales of North American cars declined 3.6%, while overseas-built vehicles fared better, declining just 0.3%.

Statistics Canada said preliminary data for January points to a renewed uptick in auto sales, with a gain of 3%.

In December, sales dropped across all provinces, led by Ontario.

Source: torontosun.com

Car Sales In India Droppes

Despite huge schemes and offers announced by the car makers, the Indian customers are not wooed yet and the result is the slackening in the Indian cars sale. Two reasons are attributed for low pace of indian car sale – poor offer from the companies and bulk volume of purchase during the festival season.

To quote a few, Maruti Suzuki is offering Rs20,000 for its Alto and Rs12,000 for its refined WagonR which seems to be lower than the one offered last year. A Delhi based Maruti dealer exclaimed that this happened to be the highest offer from a car maker yet is lower than the previous year- even to the extent of Rs38,000 cash incentives. This happens in spite of the growing scene in the Indian car industry – 30% rise- to race against China. The actual rise of car sale is 32% (12.66lakh units) till last month for this fiscal and the trend has suddenly changed now a days. The annual sale volume is high for every year but the same for the monthly basis is fluctuating. The comparative sale for October was 1.82 cars against 1.61 units in November.


Dealers of various companies are hopeful of reaping more car sale in India this month due to the price rise announced by the makers. Other major reasons for the slow rate of car sale are the comparative high sale in the last year, the supply constraint for components and increased interest rates. The analysts felt that the actual car sale in India has surpassed the expectation and projections. Yet the final volume by the end of the fiscal will be different, said the Director general of SIAM.

There are a group of people who wait till next month to gain a year long resale promotion. This is true that the vehicle is mentioned under the year of purchase irrespective of the month purchased. The customers are not in a hurry to buy cars in this December even after offered attractive gains. Particularly in Gujarat, this month is considered to be inauspicious for good things. One more reason cited for slow sale was the suspension of dealing between the manufacturers and the dealers during the end of December, for the closure of year end maintenance.

India sells, makes more small cars than

India is emerging as a leader in small cars as declining sales in Western markets coupled with robust growth in Asia rapidly redraw the global map of the auto industry.

It's well known that China overtook the United States as the world's largest car market in 2009. Less noticed is that India will top Japan for the first time in sales of super-compact cars. It overtook Japan as the world's No. 1 producer of basic cars in 2007.

Automakers like Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co., and China's Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp. are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the country, hoping to capture a piece of the growing market for tiny, inexpensive vehicles. As they do so, they are quietly transforming India into an export hub for small car manufacturing.

"India is right in the center of the radar," said Michael Boneham, head of Ford India, which plans to roll out its first India-made compact, the Figo, in the first quarter.

More than 892,000 basic cars - the smallest category of passenger vehicle - were estimated to have been sold in India in 2009, up 14 percent from 2008 and surpassing the 708,034 forecast for Japan, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

Unlike China, Russia, and Brazil, where consumers buy a range of cars from basic to luxury, Indians overwhelmingly prefer small, affordable cars.

Nearly half of all cars sold in India fall into the basic category. These are cars so small they're almost nonexistent in the U.S. market. They could be called sub-subcompacts.

A trip down the streets of a typical Indian megacity, where the bulk of car buyers live, makes the reason clear. Drivers squeeze through any remotely plausible opening on the clogged streets, grazing handcarts, bicycles, cars, pedestrians, and livestock.

And executives say most Indians won't spend more than $8,000 on a car.

To manufacture these low-margin vehicles profitably, car makers must localize production.

Audi car sales set to overtake Mercedes

German carmaker Audi is set to sell more vehicles worldwide than luxury rival Mercedes for the first time ever next year.

The University of Duisburg's Centre of Automotive Research forecast mighty Mercedes will fall to third place after BMW and Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen, amid surging demand for fancy German cars in China.

Ferdinand Dudenhoffer, the director of the university's centre, said Audi’s better market share in the fast-growing Asian country would allow it to overtake Daimler’s Mercedes brand for sales in 2010.

"While Mercedes will remain the German market leader in the premium segment with slightly fewer than 260,000 sold vehicles, Mercedes lead will melt by nearly 20,000 cars," the study said, pointing to Audi's increasing advantages in pricing and productivity.

The biggest factor weighing on Mercedes car sales appears to be that its cars are more expensive than Audi's.

Audi is able to keep its costs lower through its ties to Volkswagen, which means it can use components and car platforms made for several VW models. The study also calculated that Mercedes could eliminate around 17,000 positions if its car workers had the same level of productivity found at Audi plants.

"Mercedes has far too many workers and does too much on its own," said Dudenhoffer.

Car Sales in India Rise

In India the onslaught of several festivals and mitigation cost of a loan that led customers to purchase cars from Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Hyundai Motor and General Motors Co. caused car sales to rise 21%.

It was shown that car sales in the past month increased up to 129,683 cars. It is considered to be the eight month that indicates a straight growth in car sales.

Because of high interest rates many banks are not happy to provide loans in order to buy a car in a slow economy. But such options as packages, including tax cuts lowering of loan rates by banks are advantages for those who intend to buy a new car.

Hindu festivals also influenced favorable on sales in September.

According to Vaishali Jajoo, analyst at Angel Broking Ltd, a sustained improvement in demand influenced on the overall upturn in the Indian auto sector. He also added that the economy recovery would be able to help in registering valuable growth in the domestic market.

Maruti, India’s biggest carmaker and local unit of Suzuki Motor Corp admitted that their sales rose 12% in comparison with September to 63,071 cars.

13 well-known carmakers such as BMW AG, Audi AG, Fiat SpA, Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co stated about high India sales in September.
Source:[thelatestnews.in]

India June Car Sales Rise 7.8%

Car sales in India rose for the fifth straight month in June, driven primarily by lower lending rates and the introduction of new models from auto makers.

Sales climbed 7.8% in June to 107,531 cars from the 99,741 sold a year earlier, showed data issued Wednesday by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers industry group.

Higher borrowing costs and a slowing economy reduced demand for cars and two-wheelers in Asia's third-largest automobile market last year.

But sales began to recover earlier this year after a slew of stimulus packages, including tax cuts, from the federal government and a lowering of borrowing rates by financial institutions.

Compared to a year earlier, car sales grew 22% in February - the first monthly rise since last September - 1% in March, 4.2% in April and 2.5% in May.

"Overall, the auto industry has exhibited a positive trend in volume growth over the last four to five months," Vaishali Jajoo, an analyst at Mumbai-based Angel Broking, said in a recent report.

Ms. Jajoo, however, said the rising trend in vehicle sales will only be confirmed when auto makers report a gradual positive trend in volumes over the next couple of months.

Automakers in India have introduced several new small cars and sedans since January in an effort to lure more customers.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. began selling the Ritz, its seventh small car model, in May as it worked to maintain its leadership in the expanding market.

Sales at Maruti - a unit of Suzuki Motor Corp. - gained 12% to 54,693 cars as the market leader sold more A-Star, Ritz and Swift cars.

Fiat SpA introduced its Grande Punto hatchback last month, with the company lifting car sales to 2,464 units in June from 500 a year earlier.

Second-ranked carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. posted a 5.2% rise to 23,013 cars, while Tata Motors, the country's third-largest auto maker, rose 3.2% to 13,732 cars.

Sales at Honda Motor Co.'s local unit increased 13.5% to 5,039 cars in June, boosted by the introduction of the Jazz hatchback model.

"Our full-year outlook was based on stimulus packages," Dilip Chenoy, SIAM's director general told reporters, referring to the association's annual sales outlook announced in April. "Currently nothing has changed and it is too early to factor in the impact of the monsoon."

Normal monsoon rains are considered key to higher sales of cars, commercial vehicles and motorcycles in India's growing rural markets. About half of the country's agriculture depends on monsoons rains.

Monsoon rains are forecast to be below normal this year and auto makers have previously said they are studying for possible impact of this delay on their sales.

SIAM had forecast local car sales to grow 3%-5% in this fiscal year that began April 1. Truck and bus sales may grow 7%-10%, while that of motorcycles and scooters are projected to rise up to 5%.

Local sales of trucks and buses slid 12.5% to 36,193 vehicles in June because of a decline in sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles.

Sales in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment declined 31% to 15,659 vehicles as Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland - the top two manufacturers - posted lower sales in a slowing economy.

Light commercial vehicle sales, however, increased 10% to 20,534 units in June.

In the motorcycle segment, sales gained 16% in June to 550,833 units as Hero Honda Motors Ltd., Yamaha Motor Co. and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Ltd. saw an increase in demand.

Motorcycle sales of second-ranked Bajaj Auto Ltd. and third-ranked TVS Motor Co., however, declined.

Scooter sales rose 25% to 111,980 units in June, with Hero Honda, Honda Motorcycle and TVS posting higher sales.