Automobile manufacturers are certainly feeling the festive cheer with October aiding a sharp turnaround in sales and bringing, alongwith Diwali, a bright growth outlook for the full year. While market leader Maruti’s car sales jumped 22 per cent, Hyundai topped sales in the segment with a 41 per cent increase. Tata Motors’ sales rose 18 per cent.

“The festive period of the last two months generated strong sales and has given the Indian automobile industry some respite from the sluggish performance of the last few months. It looks that this period of strong sales would propel the industry to a positive double digit growth for the remainder of the year. This might be the turning point the industry has been waiting for,” said Arvind Saxena, senior vice-president, Hyundai Motors India.

Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) surprised the market by growing 347 per cent selling 6,909 units this October over 1,546 units last October. While it does have a small base and sales had plunged during last year’s lacklustre festive season, the New Honda City is becoming the car to beat in the sedan segment, accounting for 5,129 units of HSCI sales.

Segment leader Maruti Suzuki started the new quarter strongly with a 22 per cent growth thanks to sales of 71,383 units in October over 58,515 units sold during the same month last year. Hyundai, its nearest competitor, sold 28,301 units this October, growing 41.44 per cent over last October’s 20,009 units. Despite having been overtaken by Hyundai, Tata Motors has shown consistent signs of a recovery. Where 17,014 units were sold in October last year, 28,310 units were sold in the same month this year, including 3,018 Tata Nanos, giving Tata Motors a 17.61 per cent growth increase.

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