Car cos on fast track, sales up 31% in Jan

India’s car industry has hit the autobahn of high growth. Domestic car sales rose 31.1 per cent on the year to a monthly record in January as strong economic growth and interest rates near three-decade lows spurred a spending boom in Asia’s third largest economy. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said in a statement on Friday that 11 companies sold a total 71,875 cars in the domestic market in January, the highest monthly sales on record and up from 54,813 a year ago.

Sales in April-January, the first 10 months of the fiscal year to March, rose 27.4 per cent to 555,904 units from 436,275 in the first 10 months of the previous fiscal year. Car sales have surged since last March, after the government cut production tax to 24 percent from 32 percent, making cars about five per cent cheaper in the price-sensitive market.