The Indian subsidiaries of US automobile majors General Motors and Ford have registered a marginal increase in its sales for November 2011. GM India’s sales in last month was flat while Ford India’s sales grew by 11 per cent in November.
General Motors India sold 8,440 units last month as against 8,376 units in the same month last year, General Motors India said in a statement. The sales were driven by the encouraging response received by Chevrolet Beat Diesel, India’s most fuel efficient car. Chevrolet Beat has been one of the top performers for GM India last month registering record sales of 4605 units.
Commenting on the performance, Mr. P. Balendran, Vice President, General Motors India, said “We have been able to sustain the growth primarily due to the encouraging response to Chevrolet Beat.”
“Other car-lines like Cruze and Tavera have also generated the volumes on the expected lines. The market, however, continues to remain sluggish due to unprecedented hikes in interest rates, fuel prices, commodity prices, growing inflation and negative market sentiments. These factors are putting lot of pressure on the automobile market,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ford India sold 8,322 units in November from 7,504 units in the like period of last year. The company exported 1,769 units in the month under review and added three more export markets — Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia. The company now exports to 30 countries from India.
This growth might be seen as modest but when compared to other competitors, Ford India’s growth has remained consistent despite high interest rate on auto loans, rising fuel cost and inflation.
“We are nearing the end of a positive year where we continue to see strong customer acceptance of our brands and we are selling more despite challenging market conditions,” Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India, said in a statement.
