New month,new record for car sales

Sales also rose with the launch of new small cars as well as sedans in the recent past,such as Ford’s Figo,Toyota’s Etios and Hyundai’s upgraded i10.

But the industry body expects growth to moderate in coming months. “Except car sales,we have seen some moderation in February and that should continue for some time,” said Vishnu Mathur,director general of SIAM. “It is difficult to sustain such high growth rates and the next [fiscal year should see some moderation.”

He said,however,that total

local vehicle sales in the current fiscal year are expected to exceed SIAM’s earlier prediction of 18 per cent. “Sales should grow between 26 per cent and 27 per cent this [fiscal year.”

Maruti Suzuki,India’s largest car maker by sales,sold 87,851 cars locally,up 19 per cent from a year earlier.

Hyundai,the second-largest car maker by sales,sold 32,503 cars in February,up 5 per cent from a year earlier. February car sales at Tata Motors jumped 19 per cent to 27,272 vehicles.

In February,sales in the motorcycle segment increased 21 per cent to 776,051 units,with market leader Hero Honda Motors recording a 23 per cent growth to 4,29,928 units. Second-ranked Bajaj Auto posted a 17 per cent increase to 2,02,145 motorcycles,while sales at TVS Motor rose 14 per cent to 52,650 motorcycles.

The scooters segment posted a 27 per cent increase to 1,85,460 units in February.

The gain was helped by higher sales of Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India,TVS Motor and Suzuki Motorcycle.

Local sales of trucks and buses grew 11 per cent in February to 64,057 units as companies such as Tata Motors,Ashok

Leyland and Mahindra & Mahindra recorded rises.

Local truck and bus sales at Tata Motors grew 7 per cnet to 36,789 units while those at Ashok Leyland rose 27 per cent to 8,984 units.