Maruti Suzuki sales fall for third month

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India reported sales fell for the third straight month in August after demand slowed and the company reduced production.

The New Delhi-based carmaker's sales fell 12.7 per cent to 91,442 vehicles in August, compared with 104,791 units a year earlier, Maruti Suzuki said in a statement Thursday. Domestic sales fell 17 per cent to 77,086 units, while exports increased 19 per cent to 14,356.

The Indian unit of Suzuki Motor scaled back output of most models in August because of poor demand, Chairman R.C. Bhargava said last month. It sold 26 per cent fewer vehicles locally in July from a year earlier and posted a 3.8 per cent drop in sales in June.

The Reserve Bank of India has raised interest rates 11 times since mid-March 2010 to rein in inflation, driving down demand for cars in a country where about 80 per cent of all purchases are funded by loans. State-owned Indian Oil increased the price of petrol by Rs5 a litre to Rs63.37 in May. That was the biggest increase since June 2008.

The company expects "single digit" sales growth in the year ending March as higher interest rates and fuel costs hurt demand. This falls short of an earlier forecast of as much as 15 per cent expansion.

Tata motors sales down

Automobile major Tata Motors Thursday reported a decline of three per cent in its overall sales for August, which stood at 64,078 units.

The company's domestic sales of commercial and passenger vehicles in the month under review went down by two per cent at 59,874 units from 60,797 units sold in August 2010. The company's exports declined by 18 per cent in August at 4,204 units, compared to 5,157 units in the same period last year.