Led by India's biggest carmaker Maruti Udyog, car sales in India jumped 18% in August from a year ago. Maruti, 54% owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., was the leader in August, posting a 24% increase in sales during the month to 52,055 units. he company's sales were helped by an aggressive marketing drive in which it offered discounts of up to 40,000 rupees (nearly $1,000) on different models.
General Motors India clocked healthy growth of 18.63% to 3,017 units in August, driven by compact sales. Rival Hyundai Motor India's sales were broadly flat at 16,115 units while India's Tata Motors posted a decline of 3.56% to 13,588 units.
But total vehicle sales in the country fell 1.67% in August to 739,157 units from the same month a year earlier, according to monthly sales figures from the Society of Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
Sales of trucks and buses rose just 3.2% to 36,409 units in August while sales of motorcycle sales slid 11% to 418,702 units, SIAM said. Commercial vehicles sales rose by 2.23% in August to 36,409 units.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
