Auto sales rise in February

February 2009 saw a revival in demand for passenger vehicles. Most carmakers registered impressive growth in sales during the month. However, the companies are skeptical if this momentum will sustain for the rest of the year.

Suzuki recorded a 19 percent jump in sales in the domestic market, selling 70,625 units, the highest ever in its history.

Hyundai, with i10 and i20 sales taking off, recorded a sales growth of 45 percent in February. It sold 21,215 units as compared to 14,600 units sold in the same month a year ago. Mahindra & Mahindra’s Xylo helped the company tap a 17 percent growth in sales of its utility vehicles to 14,720 units in February. Honda sales went up by 47.83 percent in February hitting 5,579 units.

However, General Motors continued to see its sales slide, dropping by 11 percent, and it sold 4,921 units in February.

Car sales had hit a bottom, falling by 0.5 percent in the April-December 2008 period. And despite an impressive performance by Maruti in January, total car sales were down by 7 per cent.