Car sales in India to grow at 12 to 13 % by March 2011

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has stated that the on going high growth in the Indian passenger car market is expected to dip to just about 12-13% for the Financial year ending in March 2011. However, even after going down this much, the growth will still clock the highest-ever, 2.2 million units, thanks to an array of new car launches in the coming six months along with easy access to finance and rising income of the Indian middle class buyer.

The industry body has recently issued the sales data for the quarter ended in the month of June, according to which, the sales of passenger cars in India jumped by 33 percent to 5.54 lakh in first quarter over the sales of same period last year. According to the 10-year Automotive Mission plan issued by the Indian government, the auto sales are expected to reach-up to an annual figure of 3 million units by year 2016. But as the industry is growing at very good pace it could cross the 3 million-mark much before 2016.

According to Mr Pawan Goenka, who is the president of SIAM, the industry had benefited from improved economic environment in the first quarter. He added that the SIAM is expecting better sales in the coming months as all macro-economic conditions point towards robust demand.

The auto industry of the country reported an annual growth of 30.8 percent in the month of June 2010, as per the data issued by the industry body on Thursday. The total car sales in the country stood at 1,41,184 units during the month, as against 1,07,984 units sold in the same period last year. On the other hand, the sales of commercial vehicles like trucks and buses, jumped by 44 percent to 52,211 units during the month.