Car sales in December 2007

Mumbai: Cruising in overdrive would be a fitting description of the numbers notched up by the auto industry in the domestic market in December 2007.

General Motors India (GMI) displayed a growth of 144 per cent in sales during December 2007.

Taking about the company's participation at the Auto Expo '08 later this month in New Delhi, P Balendran, vice-president, GMI, said ''GM India will kick start its innings at the Auto Expo '08, which is scheduled to be held at New Delhi this month. We will be showcasing the Hummer H3 and Cadillac CTS production cars, Chevrolet WTCC Ultra, T2X and Sequel concepts.''

Maruti Suzuki India reported a 6.88-per cent increase in car sales in the domestic market during December 2007. The company clocked 58,401 units against 54,640 units in December 2006. The company exported 4,114 units, and the overall tally in December 2007 for Maruti Suzuki was 62,515 vehicles.

Arch rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), has also shown overall growth of 5.6 per cent over December 2006. The company tallied a growth of 18.2 per cent. Arvind Saxena, senior vice-president, marketing and sales, HMIL said, that the company achieved a ''commendable landmark'' in 2007 by rolling out the fastest 1,500,000th car. 2007 was the year of new launches for Hyundai Motor India, with the Sonata CRDi, Getz Prime, Santro CNG, Sonata AT and the brand new i10, which had its global launch in India.