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MUMBAI : India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki and bicycle maker TVS Motor posted record sales in August, industry figures showed Wednesday, helped by strong consumer demand and cheap finance.
Japanese-owned Maruti Suzuki India announced a 23.5 percent jump in sales to 104,791 cars in August, up from 84,808 in the same month a year ago.
"This is the highest ever monthly sales recorded," a company statement said. The figure surpassed the 102,175 units Maruti sold in May.
More than half Maruti's sales were in the popular small vehicle segment in which it sold 65,953 cars, up 26 percent from the same month a year earlier.
TVS Motor, the country's third-largest maker of bicycles and scooters, reported sales soared 34 percent to 170,735 units in August from a year earlier.
The figures come as carmakers hike the prices of their vehicles to offset increased costs of raw materials such as steel and rubber. But despite the increases analysts see car sales remaining strong as the economy picks up.
The car sales figures come on the heels of data Tuesday showing India's economy grew 8.8 percent in the fiscal first quarter to June, the best performance since 2007.
India has been fast turning into a battleground for global vehicle manufacturers such as Ford, Renault-Nissan, General Motors and Volkswagen.
They have been hoping to offset sluggish sales at home by steering towards India and China, seeing huge potential in their billion-plus populations.
Sales of vehicles in India, still one of the world's least penetrated auto markets, have grown at an average annual rate of 17 percent since 2005.
Indian car sales could get a further lift from an expected rise in rural income, boosted by expectations of higher farm output this year, thanks to bountiful monsoon rains, analysts say. - AFP/fa
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