new delhi tata motors once the countrys secondbiggest passenger vehicle maker is skidding on indian roads in the wake of rising competition after losing the second position to hyundai a few years ago it has now slipped further and fallen behind fellow indian player mahindra mahindra mm mm which is a leader in the utility vehicles and suv space has been growing rapidly over the last few months mm has moved to the third position in the indian passenger vehicle market riding on higher demand for its vehicles including the newly launched xuv500 suv maruti suzuki remains the market leader followed by hyundai the fall of tata motors is alarming considering that the company was hoping to recapture its second position after the launch of nano in 2010 the worlds cheapest car however failed to cut much ice and has been a slow mover robbing tata motors of any chances to better its position first quarter sales figures establish the lead of mm over tata motors according to company figures mm sold 61504 units during apriljune 2012 with sales growing 28 in contrast tata motors sales slipped 7 to 60405 units in the same period out of the first three months of the current fiscal sales of tata motors have fallen in two months april and june and singledigit growth was witnessed in may a questionnaire sent to tata motors remained unanswered for a large percentage of car buyers tata motors is no longer an option the company is selling products that do not meet the expectations of buyers said deepesh rathore md at ihs automotive a consulting firm a large chunk of sales for tata motors comes from taxis which is limited in volumes and is cyclical in nature the recurring incidents of fire on nano after its launch only made things difficult for tata motors that has since come up with a variety of offers and schemes to prop up sales of the model however the market has not shown any perceptible difference in its choice for the brand cumulative sales of nano in the first quarter were flat at 22140 units as per the sales statement put out by tata motors on july 2 other models of the company are also struggling while sales of indica range stood flat at 17712 units in the apriljune quarter the volumes of the indigo family were lower by 33 at 9724 units sales of mpvsuv portfolio that include sumo safari and aria have also been flat at 10829 units in the same period for mm the story is different the success of xuv500 and good volumes for products like bolero has seen the company chalk out aggressive growth plans we are happy to have achieved a growth of 23 in the first quarter given the pressures and various uncertainties which the auto industry is currently facing we expect the demand for utility vehicles to continue during the current financial year pravin