Over 2,300 cars sold a day in January

THREE REASONS FOR FEELING BETTER

Car sales climbed 31.1 per cent to 71,875 in January 2004 from 54,813 a year ago, fuelled by a growing demand for small and compact vehicles.

The demand pull has resulted in long waiting periods at dealerships of the country's biggest car maker, Maruti Udyog Ltd. Consumers were being made to wait at least two weeks for Maruti's top-selling models like Alto, WagonR and Esteem, company sources told Business Standard. "The demand has been much more than we anticipated. Perhaps, we were not prepared for this," a source said.

Compact car makers Maruti, Tata Motors and Hyundai have benefited from the heavy demand despite a price rise during the month.

According to figures released here today by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Maruti's sales grew 35.8 per cent to 38,140 cars and Hyundai Motor's 24.4 per cent to 12,546. Tata Motors registered a growth of 11.5 per cent to 11,084 cars.

Cumulative car sales climbed 27.4 per cent to 555,904 during April-January 2003-04 from 436,275 during the year-ago period. The industry was heading for over 25 per cent growth in 2003-04, a senior SIAM functionary added.

Sales of buses and trucks grew 35.5 per cent to 25,141 in January from 18,545 in the same month a year ago. Cumulative sales of buses and trucks improved 36.1 per cent to 203,269.

Sales of utility vehicles grew 31.5 per cent to 15,119, while sales of multi-purpose-vehicles increased 11.5 per cent to 6,016.

Two-wheeler sales increased 12.5 per cent to 456,309. Even scooter sales, which have been on the decline, improved during the month.

Motorcycle and step-through sales grew 14.8 per cent to 354,640, while sales of scooters and scooterettes improved 6.54 per cent to 73,905. Moped sales also grew 2 per cent to 27,764.

In the three-wheeler category, sales rose 12 per cent to 23,810 on higher demand for goods carriers.