Bajaj Auto March sales slip 10%; will try 5mn sales in FY14
India's second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto on Tuesday reported a 10 percent decline in sales in March at 3.01 lakh units amid continued sluggish demand for motorcycles.
April 02, 2013 / 13:55 IST
Moneycontrol Bureau
India's second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto on Tuesday reported a 10 percent year-on-year decline in sales in March at 3.01 lakh units amid continued sluggish demand for motorcycles.Motorcycle sales have hit the slow lane for past several months, and there are no signs yet of a speedy recovery yet. Bajaj Auto's motorcycle sales last month tumbled 11 percent to 2.67 lakh units, and three-wheeler commercial vehicle sales slipped 1 percent to 34,194 units.Exports were down 6 percent to just over 1.01 lakh units in March.Overall, the two-wheeler maker ended the financial year (2012-13) on a sluggish note, with total sales slipping 3 percent to 42.37 lakh units. Motorcycle sales were down 2 percent, CV sales declined 7 percent and exports fell 2 percent.Many of its rivals too didn't have much to cheer last year as high inflation, expensive loans, rising fuel prices and the overall slowdown in the economy deflated consumer sentiments.The country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp's March sales declined 11 percent to 4.68 lakh units. For the full year, sales were marginally lower at 61 lakh units, compared with 62 lakh units sold a year ago.Chennai-based TVS Motor's sales last month were down 8 percent to 1.68 lakh units.Rajiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Auto told CNBC-TV18 that the market remained challenging and he expects growth in April-June to be between 0 and -5 percent. (here's the full interview)Overall for the year, Bajaj said the company would try to strike double digit growth and get closer to 5 million (50 lakh) vehicle sales.However, its going to be a bumpy road, given the sluggish growth in the two-wheeler market seen at least in April-June and pressures in some of its export markets like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Egypt, which are key regions for three-wheelers. Sales in Sri Lanka took a hit in the first half of last financial year due to a sharp increase in duties there. Egypt sales were also impacted for a few months due to political unrest. At 9:40hrs, Bajaj Auto shares were down 1.6 percent at Rs 1,752 on NSE. Hero MotoCorp was down 0.2 percent at 1,530.10 and TVS Motor fell 0.3 percent to 31.85.Nachiket Kelkar
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