This year has been an eventful year for the Indian automotive industry. From the ban on diesel cars to demonetization and the very recent ban on sale and registration of BS 3 vehicles, auto manufacturers in India have experienced a handful of major challenges in this fiscal year. And despite these trials of strategies and policies, companies seem to have largely observed positive growth. Maruti Suzuki and Nissan's numbers for March 2017 give an impressive report of how the industry navigated through the year. Here are the detailed sales figures:
Maruti Suzuki sold 139,763 units in March 2017 including 127,999 units in the domestic market and 11,764 units in exports. It had sold a total of 129,345 units in March 2016. With this, Maruti Suzuki surpassed the 1.5 million mark in total sales in 2016-17 and registered its highest ever total sales of 1,568,603 units - a growth of 9.8%. This comprises highest ever domestic sales of 1,444,541 units. The export sales were 124,062 units.
On the other hand, Nissan Motor India, which started FY2016 with the launch of the Datsun redi-GO in June 2016 and went on to add the Nissan GT-R in December 2016, also observed strong sales with total domestic sales of 57,315 units in FY2016, a growth of 45% over the previous financial year. This fiscal year also marked the company's highest-ever volume achieved in India. It may be interesting to note that with this growth rate, Nissan India was the second-fastest growing auto company in the country in FY2016. As far as sales in March 2017 are concerned, the company sold 5,309 vehicles - an increase of 21% over the same period last year.
Guillaume Sicard, President, Nissan India Operations, said, "FY2016 has been a remarkable year for Nissan India. We are delighted by the progress and the acceptance of our products and services by our customers. We have remained focused on sustaining and accelerating our performance and the team has worked hard to reach closer to our customers. On the products front, Datsun redi-GO has been our most significant new model launch in the last year and has been a key driver of our success and raising brand awareness. Looking ahead, in the medium-term Nissan India plans to launch 8 new products in India by 2021 with an aim to achieve 5% market share in India."
Ford India too ended the first quarter of 2017 with double digit growth in combined domestic wholesale and export. Its combined domestic wholesales and exports grew to 24,832 vehicles in March from 21,198 vehicles in the corresponding month last year. March domestic wholesales grew to 8,700 vehicles up from 7,560 units while the exports grew to 16,132 vehicles from 13,638 units in the same month last year.
Anurag Mehrotra, executive director, Marketing, Sales & Service at Ford India, said, "We continued to delight Indian families with products that promise safety and compelling value for money. Furthermore, our efforts in addressing the cost of ownership perception and the promise of a differentiated and transparent experience helped us deliver above industry growth rate in the first quarter."
In the first quarter of 2017, Ford India's combined domestic wholesale and exports grow to 63,117 vehicles compared to 51,338 in the first quarter last year.
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