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It's been a forward March for car makers

BS Corporate Bureau

Automobile sales have registered a substantial growth in March 2002 compared with sales in the same month last year, if reports from manufacturers coming in are any indication.

The month has proved to be bountiful for manufacturers of cars as well as two-wheelers.

Car sales of General Motors India, a subsidiary of the US auto major, recorded a 29.5 per cent at 1,367 units (1,055 units in March 2001), in the process topping the 1,300 units figure for the first time since the company's inception in India.

The March sales of GMI comprised 940 units of its mid-size car 'Opel Corsa', 152 units of station wagon 'Swing' and 275 units of the premium mid-size car 'Opel Astra', a GMI spokesperson said. March sales were also up by 70 per cent against 810 cars sold in the previous month.

Honda Siel Cars India also registered its highest-ever sales during a single month. Its March sales jumped 24 per cent from 1,271 units in the same month last year to 1,581 units this year. Honda Siel's March sales was also 74.5 per cent higher than February 2002 sales at 906 units.

Fiat India said its March 2002 sales was 4,003 units as compared to 631 units in March 2001. The jump was primarily due to the sales of Palio, which was launched in October and sold 3,577 units in March. Fiat India's mid-sized sedan Siena sold 305 units while the remaining volumes came from the sale of the B segment Uno.

Fiat's director (commercial) Vijay Chandorikar said the company is ramping up production at the Kurla factory to 200 units a day instead of 70 units a day in September last year to meet the growing demand. Fiat's competitors in the B segment Hyundai, Maruti and Tata Engineering declined to give comments.

It was reliably learnt that Hyundai and Tata Engineering had also recorded noteworthy growths. But sales of market leader Maruti remained flat.

There was good news from luxury car makers as well. DaimlerChrysler India (earlier called Mercedes-Benz India) said its March sales have jumped more than 100 per cent as compared with last year. DaimlerChrysler sold 160 units of Mercedes cars during the month.

Mobikes drive up 2-wheeler segment

Two-wheeler makers also reported jump in volumes, driven primarily by sales of motorcyles. Hero Honda Motors, the country's largest motorcycle maker, recorded a 39.9 per cent rise in sales during March 2002 at 135,000 motorcycles over 96,810 units in the same month a year ago.

The March sales were a 7.1 per cent rise over 126,000 motorcycles sold in February this year. TVS Motors' March sales rose 30.5 per cent.

The company sold 87,523 two-wheelers during the month as against 67,049 units a year ago. The march sales also increased 12 per cent compared with 78,080 units sold in February this year.

To meet increasing demand, TVS is ramping up production of the motorcycle to 50,000 units by September this year, sources said.

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