Bajaj Auto sales up 13 per cent in December

Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) has reported a 13 per cent rise in total sales in December, although the month was a lackluster one for the automobile sector. The Pune-based firm's shares rose 2 per cent to a 52-week high on Wednesday.

These were the highest-ever December sales, with the month being a lean month for automobile sector, as buyers tend to postpone purchases to the New Year.

BAL sold a total of 3.44 lakh vehicles in December 2012, its highest ever dispatches for the month, compared with 3.06 lakh units sold during the same month a year ago.

Bajaj Auto sold 2.98 lakh motorcycles during the month under review, a 13 per cent increase from 2.64 units sold in December 2011. Its commercial vehicles sales rose 9 per cent to 45,596 units from 41,991 units during the reporting month.

The company's exports rose 5 per cent to 1.26 lakh units (1.20 lakh) in December 2012.

However, the company's year-to-date sales (April-December) fell 2 per cent to 3.26 million vehicles from the same period a year ago. Bajaj Auto's year-to-date (YTD) sales of motorcycles were lower by 1 per cent and that of commercial vehicles were down by 9 per cent.

Its YTD motorcycle sales fell to 2.90 million units from 2.94 million units sold during the nine-month period a year ago, while exports declined 4 per cent to 1.18 million units.