India’s car sales posts growth after five months

Although the November sales of cars in India posted their first growth in five months, the recovery is deemed insufficient to enable the industry to meet its modest growth forecast of 2-4%. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), car sales grew by 7%, with sales reaching 1.71 lakh units, against sales of 1.59 lakh units in the same month last year. Tata Motors, Hyundai, Toyota and Volkswagen all posted increases, while Maruti’s sales went down by 19% .”We don’t expect to meet our forecast of 2% to 4% growth in car sales for this financial year and we may revise the forecast in January,” said Sugato Sen, SIAM’s senior director. SIAM had already downgraded its growth forecast twice, as industry players continue to worry over sales, citing high interest rates and prices of petrol as primary causes for low sales. (December 9, 2011)