Vehicle makers overcome cess bump on festive pull

Top firms report double-digit growth in September

Carmakers exited September with double-digit growth (from the corresponding month a year before), in spite of an increase in cess on bigger cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) last month.

A festive pull in demand helped Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Honda and Tata Motors; together, they have a little over two-thirds of the market. Maruti, which sells every second car in the domestic market, reported sales growth of 9.6 per cent at 150,521 vehicles. Helped by demand for its compact cars (Dzire, Baleno) and utility vehicles such as the Brezza. R S Kalsi, its senior executive director (marketing and sales), said on