Flying start for car, bike sales in FY07

Automobile sales in India started on a high note this fiscal with cars and bikes witnessing an over 16 per cent surge in demand in April.

Automobile sales in India started on a high note this fiscal with cars and bikes witnessing an over 16 per cent surge in demand in April even as commercial vehicles saw numbers gain to the maximum, rising by a whopping 68.5 per cent.

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Car sales in April stood at 74,536 units against 63,932 units in the same month last year as nine of the 11 companies, including market leader Maruti Udyog, Hyundai, Ford, General Motors and Honda, saw demand perk up following the eight per cent excise duty cut on small cars as well as overall healthy demand, according to figures released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Car sales in the just-concluded fiscal 2005-06 had seen a slowdown, witnessing a modest single digit 7.55 per cent growth though on a high base year.

On the two-wheeler side, motorcycles continued their strong run as sales were up nearly 17 per cent at 5,12,381 units against 4,38,325 units in April 2005. Segment leaders Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto led the charge while others like TVS Motors, Yamaha also saw numbers rise.

However, just as bikes maintained the healthy demand, scooter/scooterettee growth witnessed a sharp 16.1 per cent decline. Sales stood at 65,679 units in April 2006 against 78,313 units in the same month last year, SIAM said.