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Honda sales up as midsize auto market declines

New entrant Honda Siel Cars India Limited defied the over 16 per cent decline in the midsize segment in February this year, offloading 360 City cars during the period.

The only other car manufacturers who could improve their performance were Daewoo Motors India Limited and Hindustan Motors.

Daewoo sold 919 cars in February as against 906 in January, latest industry figures said. This slight surge in Cielo sales have been on account of the Rs 130,000 price slash the company had announced in January.

As many as 3,067 cars were sold in the segment in February 1998 as against 3,247 cars in January 1998. About 42,929 cars were sold in the cumulative 11-month period of the current fiscal.

Even market leader Maruti Udyog Limited witnessed an erosion in the sales figures of its Esteem model. The company recorded a 25 per cent decline during the period to offload 1,170 cars as against 1,565 cars in January. With the present sales figure, the company controls a 38 per cent market share.

Cielo, with its recent sudden surge in sales, accounted for 20.9 per cent market share.

Hindustan motors offloaded 66 of its Contessa cars during the month, 11 units above the previous month's 55. With this 20 per cent improvement in sales, the company's marketshare has gone to 2.5 per cent.

General Motors India Limited's Opel Astra sales declined to 19 per cent to touch 227 as against 281 in January 1998. The company today controls 17 per cent of the midsize market with its cumulative 11-month sales touching 7,285 units.

Mahindra Ford India Limited sold around 201 Escorts in February as against 276 in January. With this 27 per cent decline, the company's total sales for the first 11 months stood at 6,032 units. The company accounts for 14 per cent market share.

Telco, with its Sierra and Estate models, cornered a 3.8 per cent marketshare. The company offloaded 100 units in the second month of the current calender year as against 130 the previous month. The cumulative figure stood at 1,657 units.

Pal-Peugeot India Limited managed to offload only 24 of its Peugeot 309 cars, down from 34 in January. However, the company cornered a three per cent marketshare selling 1,257 cars in the first 11 months of the current fiscal.

UNI