Indian Economy: Growth -2

[Naresh]

<b>Car sales up 16% in Oct</b>

<b>NEW DELHI : Riding on the festive season, automakers clocked a high double-digit growth in the month of October. Passenger car sales were up 16.3%, while motorcycle sales clocked a growth of 13.2%.

Passenger vehicles which includes multi-purpose vehicle and utility vehicles sales were up 14.5%.

According to primary sales figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Thursday, the mini- and compact-segments — which includes all hatchbacks — in passenger cars registered a growth of over 19% and stood at 64,868 units in October as against 54,290 units in the corresponding month last year.</b>

Auto analysts believe the segment’s growth has been largely fuelled by Maruti’s models — Alto and the new Wagon R (including its LPG variant.)

“The mid-size segment also has seen a lot of action this month with many launches compared to last year and has a seen a good growth,” says Abdul Majeeck, auto analyst at PricewaterHouseCoopers. The mid-size segment car sales reported strong growth and were up 34.5%.

A total of 17,051 units were sold as against 12,668 units during October ’05.“The retail sales for all motorcycle makers have been very high this season, which is almost 20% more than the primary sales,” says Atul Gupta, executive VP-sales, Yamaha Motor India.

Also, while 75 cc-to-below-125 cc bike sales registered a growth rate of 13.29%, the 125 cc-to-below-250 cc segment has clocked a growth of 13.01%.

Auto analysts believe this indicates bikers in India are steadily upgrading their vehicles. Commercial vehicles have also clocked a robust double digit growth of 21.7%.

The mid-sized and heavy commercial vehicles segment grew by 27.6% and stood at 22,183 units. Light commercial vehicle sales were up 14.5% and stood at 16,371 units.

Exports of passenger vehicles grew by 9.6% and stood at 15,077 units as compared to 13,750 units in October ’05. Exports of motorcycles have shot up by over 50% and stood at 45,779 units in October

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