Car sales zoom 17 per cent in July

Domestic passenger car sales in July stood at 1,62,022 units against 1,37,922 in the same month last year, according to the data released by the SIAM.

Car sales in India grew sharply by 17.47 per cent in July, helped by new launches and a lower base of last year. This is the ninth consecutive month of growth for the segment. However, motorcycle sales continued to decline owing to the lack of demand in rural areas.

“We have seen a fairly good growth in the passenger vehicle industry and in the heavy commercial vehicle industry. Within the passenger vehicle segment, cars grew by a sharp 17.47 per cent. Medium and heavy commercial vehicles have also seen a decent growth,” Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) director-general Vishnu Mathur said.

The growth in the segment is driven by market leader Maruti Suzuki, besides Hyundai and Honda which launched new products during the month.

Domestic passenger car sales in July stood at 1,62,022 units against 1,37,922 in the same month last year, according to the data released by the SIAM.

This is also an improvement from the 1.53 per cent growth in June, at 1,62,677 units, from 1,60,232 units in June 2014.

“Overall, we see the beginning of a good recovery process and we hope that as we go along with a good monsoon this year, we should see a more robust and more sustained growth in the second half of the year,” Mr. Mathur said.

Two-wheelers grew marginally by 0.14 per cent during the month. While scooters registered a growth of 15 per cent to 4,32,262 units, motorcycle sales witnessed a decline of 6.36 per cent to 8,08,332 units.