Auto sales continue to speed up in July; festive season to give further fillip
03 Aug 2010
As auto sales continue to zoom on, manufacturers can look forward to a happy festive season. Despite input price and interest rate increases, car, bike and truck makers posted their seventh straight monthly growth in July.
Most auto firms have registered high double-digit sales growth for the last month, encouraging the launch of new models.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki India recorded its highest monthly sales in the domestic market in July. And with the festival season about to start and good monsoon rains under way (helping rural sales), industry insiders and analysts expect automakers to retain the momentum for the rest of the year.
Maruti posted a 33-per cent year-on-year jump in domestic sales in July, while its overall monthly sales crossed the one-lakh mark for the second time, the company said in a statement. Maruti Suzuki had reported its highest monthly sales of 1.02 lakh units in May.
The company plans to launch of a new variant of the Alto, India's top-selling car, this week.
Hyundai Motor India, an arm of the Korean auto major, meanwhile regained its position as the country's second-largest carmaker ahead of Tata Motors as its sales increased 24 per cent in July.