India car sales jump 21 per cent
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New Delhi: Car sales in India jumped 21 per cent in November from a year earlier as customers snapped up new models in a booming auto market, industry data showed on Wednesday.
Sales last month climbed to 161,497 cars from 133,703 a year earlier, according to a statement from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), helped by a rapidly expanding economy.
But the number of cars sold was down from October, when car sales rose 38 per cent year-on-year to 182,992 units, the highest ever monthly total, buoyed by the religious festival season, when buying is considered auspicious.
"Additional volumes tapered off" from the festival season, SIAM senior director Sugato Sen said.
Car sales from the start of the financial year in April to November grew 32 per cent from a year earlier, driven by increasing affluence among India's burgeoning middle class, estimated at 300 million people.
SIAM forecast passenger car sales for the fiscal year to March 31 should grow by at least 25 per cent - far higher than the group's initial forecast of growth of 12-13 per cent.
India has turned into a major battleground for global vehicle manufacturers such as Ford, Renault-Nissan, General Motors and Volkswagen, which have all launched new models in the country as they seek new markets.
Sales of commercial vehicles - seen as a barometer of economic health - jumped by 18.26 per cent to 48,314 units from a year earlier.
Easy availability of finance and new models are expected to keep vehicle sales growing strongly, SIAM said.
The Indian market, Asia's third-largest, is projected to triple over the next decade to six million cars a year from the current two million, according to industry estimates.
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