Forex

Consumers, however, opted for its mid-sized and bigger cars rather than smaller versions. The auto major witnessed a staggering 48 per cent growth in the A3 segment, including Dzire and SX4, despite hiking the prices by Rs 15,000.

The sales of leading car makers including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors, M&M, Tata Motors and Honda Siel have gone up by eight per cent in June this year compared to the same period last year, despite the hike in car prices, increase in excise duty on bigger cars and spiraling inflation.

The five carmakers together sold 1.60 lakh vehicles in June compared to 1.48 lakh units last year. Had it not been for the negative growth of Tata Motors, the sales of other four manufacturers would have grown by 15 per cent in the same period.

The country's largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki sold 61,247 vehicles (including 4836 vehicles for the export markets) in June this year.

Consumers, however, opted for its mid-sized and bigger cars rather than smaller versions. The auto major witnessed a staggering 48 per cent growth in the A3 segment, including Dzire and SX4, despite hiking the prices by Rs 15,000.

On the other hand, the sales of Maruti 800 fell by 13 per cent from 6214 units in the corresponding period last year. The sales in the A2 segment, comprising Alto, Swift, Zen and Wagon R, grew by a measly 0.3 per cent in June.

Analysts consider the sales performance as "normal", but attribute the dip in small car sales to high interest rates and brand fatigue. The second largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motors registered a sales growth of 45.3 per cent at 40,182 units in June this year compared to the same month last year.

The domestic market accounted for 21,881 units and exports stood at 18,301 units. The company witnessed a 57 per cent growth in the A3 segment, selling 6272 units of Accent and Verna in June this year compared to 3983 units in the same period last year.

The Korean auto major, however, witnessed a decline in A5 sales. The company sold 47 units of Sonata in June this year compared to 67 units in the same month last year. In the SUV segment, it sold merely 4 units of Tucson compared to the 21 units last year.

But Hyundai's sales of small cars is not flagging, primarily due to the success of "I10" launched in the last quarter of 2007. The car manufacturer sold a combined 34,000 units of Santro, I10 and the Getz in June, compared to last year, a growth of 44 per cent.

The premium car manufacturer Honda Siel sold 4748 cars in June this year, a growth of 5 per cent over the 4503 cars in the same period last year.

On the back of launching the 8th generation Accord and Civic Hybrid, Honda Siel sold 2507 units of the City, 1104 units of the Civic, 843 units of the Accord and 294 units of CRV.

"The extent of the impact on our sales can be gauged only from next month," said a Honda spokesperson. The Mumbai-based M&M sold 19,371 vehicles in June this year, a 8.2 per cent growth over the 17,807 units sold in June last year.

Tata Motors continued to see a decline in sales. The sales of passenger vehicles fell one per cent to 54,525 units in June this year from 56,066 units in the same period last year.

The sales of flagship Indica came down by 26 per cent to 25,676 units. However, the big car Indigo saw a strong growth of 81 per cent at 13,052 units.