Mumbai: The Indian automobile sector is going through trying times as four-wheeler sales slow down and two-wheeler sales rising, with interest rate hikes impacting vehicle financing, rising input costs, and inflationary pressures dampening the market sentiment.
Passenger car maker and market leader Maruti Suzuki managed to notch up cumulative sales of 58,543 units in July as compared with 57,909 units in July 2007.

During the month, while the A3 segment, where Maruti Suzuki attained leadership position last year, continued to show strong growth, the A2 segment sales held ground despite the adverse macro economic situation. Compared to the sales in July 2007, Maruti's volume in the domestic A3 segment grew by 36.8 per cent over July 2007.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) has announced a cumulative sales growth of 28.2 per cent for the month of July, 2008.

HMIL's total sales for the month of July 2008 totalled 36,152 units, with the domestic market accounting for 15, 066 units, and exports adding 21,086 units.

The cumulative sales for July 2007 were 28,204 units, with 15,003 units of domestic sales and 13,201 units exported.

Compared to July 2007, the company's domestic sales grew by 0.4 per cent in July 2008, while as exports grew 59.7 per cent.

Arvind Saxena, senior vice president for marketing and sales at HMIL attributed the low domestic sales to a challenging month for the Indian automotive industry, which is reeling from the multiple impact of increased interest rates, hikes in fuel prices and inflationary pressures that have affected market sentiments.

He said ''Riding on its strong product portfolio, HMIL has still managed to maintain even sales in the domestic market and our exports continue to grow at fast pace. Overall the cumulative figures are positive for HMIL but a host of negative factors have created a situation in the market where the industry is certainly going to face a slow down in demand should the situation continue for long''.

The segment-wise cumulative sales in the month of July, 2008 were:
Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra's July 2008 cumulative automotive sales totalled 18407 vehicles, against 19163 vehicles in July 2007. The company exported 1105 units in July 2008, as against 627 units exported in July 2007.

M&M's domestic volumes for the month of July 2008 stand at 17302 units, as against 18536 units in July 2007. M&M's domestic YTD volumes for the month of July 2008 stand at 74169 units, as against 64890 units in the same period last year.

General Motors India (GM India) posted a jump of 25 per cent in its sales in July notching up 5,706 units on higher sales of its small car Chevrolet Spark. Sales of the Chevrolet Spark went up by 120 per cent to 3,570 units. Earlier in the month, GM India had slashed prices for the Spark to a starting price of Rs2.66 lakhs.

Honda Siel Cars India, which makes and sells the popular Honda City in India, posted lower July at 4,339 units, down from 4,533 units a year ago. Cumulative sales from the January-to-July period now tally at 36,849 units, posting a marginal rise of 0.2 per cent over same period last year.

Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) also launched India's first hybrid car, the Civic Hybrid in the month of June 2008, which notched up sales of 52 units in the first month of its launch.
The segment-wise cumulative sales in the month of July, 2008 were:

• A2 Segment (Santro. I10, Getz Prime) 30,614 units;
• A3 Segment (Accent, Verna) 5,504 units;
• A4 Segment (Elantra) 1 units;
• A5 Segment ( Sonata Embera) 28 units;
• SUV Segment (Tucson) 5 units.