After registering steep fall in sales for last few months consecutively, the Indian auto industry has started showing signs of revival. The overall passenger car segment sales stood at 1,71,131 units during the month of November 2011, as compared to 1,59,939 sold in the same month last year, registering a moderate growth of about 7 percent during the month. The overall sales results were released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Thursday.
The launch of a series of new cars in last few months proved a major contributor in the growth of cars sales in the domestic market. The new car launches that kept the momentum alive throughout the month of November include Hyundai’s much popular EON small car, Maruti Swift Diesel, Mahindra XUV 500, Honda’s new Brio hatchback, and Etios Diesel from Toyota.
Speaking on the sales figures of the Indian car market during the month of November, Sugato Sen, senior director at Siam, said, "The market has seen better response from customers with higher sales in post-festive period. The bigger cars have largely remained insulated from the market slowdown and have improved demand." He added, "It's the entry-level small segment that has been hit the most because of fuel hikes and rising interest rates and has kept the market sluggish."
It is to be mentioned here that November was the first month of positive growth in the Indian car markers since June, as the sales growth was on negative side during June to October period.
