Tata Engineering has posted a 26.3 per cent rise in domestic sales at 17,488 vehicles in August 2002 against 13,843 vehicles sold in the same period previous year. For the first five months of this fiscal, the company’s sales have jumped 25.8 per cent at 73,999 vehicles against 58,835 in the corresponding period last year, Tata Engineering said in a press release. The company witnessed a 20.8 increase in sales of commercial vehicles which stood at 8,006 in August 2002 against 6,627 in August last year.

While in the first five months, the commercial vehicles segment registered a growth of 35.2 per cent at 36,656 vehicles. According to the company, both medium and heavy commercial vehicles at 24,918 and light commercial vehicles at 11,738 grew by 35 per cent. Tata Engineering has unveiled the EX series of LCVs and M&HCVs across the country and received a good response from users.

In passenger vehicles, the company’s sales grew 31 per cent at 9,482 in August 2002. In this segment, the company’s overall market share during the year rose to 13.6 per cent against 11.7 per cent during the same period previous year. The sales in this passenger vehicle segment, during April-August 2002 stood at 37,343, a growth of 18 per cent. Tata Engineering has sold 7,437 Indicas in August 2002, registering a growth of 44 per cent over August 2001. Cumulative sales this fiscal have jumped by 26 per cent to 27,870.

Indica’s market share in the compact segment stands at an estimated 22.3 per cent at the end of August 2002 against 19.7 per cent in the same period previous fiscal. In utility vehicles, it has reported a sale of 2,045 vehicles in August 2002. Cumulative sales at 9,473 for the fiscal helped Tata Engineering maintain market share of 23.4 per cent. Sales of Safari grew by 9 per cent in August 2002 and is growing by 37 per cent during the current fiscal.