Fear of excise duty hike boosted January sales

As Indian automobile industry registered a high sales figures in the month of January this year as compared to the same period of last year, some market watchers speculated that the fear of price-hike in mid-size car segment in coming months may be attributed to a good extent in high sales figures.

According to industry experts due to demand slump in last few years the excise duty decreased from a top of 40% to an all time low of 8%, now as the market is improving and sales are growing it is expected that the excise duty can be increase from 8% to 12 % though for small cars like Tata Nano and Maruti Alto it may remain to existing 8%.

Abdul Majeed, auto practice leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said in a statement given to a top media group that Maruti-Suzuki, Tata Motors, Honda SIEL, Mahindra & Mahindra, Toyota and General Motors have increased their production to catch up with the increase demand. He added that some of the popular cars launched in India in the month of January like Chevrolet Beat and Maruti Eeco were also boosted the demand.

Besides this the even of Delhi Auto Expo can be seen as a demand booster as many new cars showcased and launched in this event. This time the Delhi auto expo visited by around 2 million car lovers and car enthusiasts and to make the most of it many major car manufacturers showcased their small cars in this auto show like Toyota Etios, Honda new small car concept, Maruti Eeco and Chevrolet Spark electric.

In the period of January 2010 the auto industry has registered a growth of 35%. The growth momentum is expected to be remain in this month also though the February sales figures will not be as exciting as the sales figures of January 2010. Many new car models are expected to be launched in coming months like Ford Figo and Tata Aria.

Know more about popular cars in India - Maruti Alto, Maruti Wagon R, Maruti Swift, Hyundai i10, Honda City, Fiat Linea, Toyota Corolla.

Read More on : Chevrolet Spark