Maruti sales up 62%, car makers have a great Feb

Leading car makers have reported unusually high sales in February, setting the stage for an over 25 per cent volume growth for the financial year ending March 31, 2003.

The country's biggest car maker and the dominant player in the small car market, Maruti Udyog Ltd, reported sales of 42,263 units in the month, which is 61.8 per cent higher than 26,113 units sold in the year ago month.

Bigger car makers Honda Siel Cars India Ltd and General Motors reported sales growth of 752 per cent and 153 per cent, respectively, during the month.

Maruti's cumulative (April-January 2003-04) sales improved 33 per cent to 4,19,422 units. Domestic sales increased 30 per cent to 3,76,529 units, while exports grew 53 per cent to 42,893 units.

In February 2004, the company's domestic sales grew by 68.5 per cent to 39,241 units, while exports went up by seven per cent to 3,022 units.

Sales of the entry-level Maruti 800 improved by 21.8 per cent to 13,518 units. Sales of compacts Alto, WagonR and Zen grew an aggregate 165.8 per cent to 19,179 units.

Honda Siel Cars said its volume grew 752 per cent in February 2004, with a total of 2,691 units of its new City, Accord and CR-V models sold. The company sold 316 units in the same month last year.

"We are expanding our market at a very fast pace by venturing into semi-metros and non-metros, which has added to our customer base," said Neeraj Garg, head of marketing at Honda Siel Cars India Ltd.

Backed by some new launches during the year, the company's cumulative sales for the period April 2003-February 2004 increased to 18,512 units, 63.3 per cent higher than 11,334 units sold during the corresponding period last year.

General Motors said its February sales at 1,309 units were 153 per cent higher than 518 units in February 2003.