Auto sales zoom in Feb

After months of slowdown, car and bike sales seem to be revving up with February numbers showing double-digit growth for almost all major companies. Market leaders Maruti and Hero Honda were among the gainers in the month, prompting analysts to hope that the worst may be over for the auto sector. The Government’s move to cut excise and interest rates which has made financing affordable has acted as a booster dose. In February, Maruti reported its highest-ever retail numbers at 70,625 units against 59,311 units in the same month last year, a growth of 19%. And its bread-and-butter small car portfolio, comprising models like Alto, Wagon-R, Zen, Swift and A-star, managed a 14% growth. An important recovery was that of Tata Motors which has been struggling for the last few months. Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle numbers managed a growth of 1.5% at 19,039 units in February, the first positive month for the company after October last year. “While the financial stimulus has had a positive impact, the retail market would still take some time to reach the corresponding period levels of the last fiscal,’’ the company said. Hyundai, which saw numbers going down 13.5% in January, too, had a good month as its numbers grew 45% at 21,215 units in February against 14, 600 units in the same month last year. Same for luxury carmaker Honda Siel that saw a growth of 48% (5579 units) after its sales fell 26% in January. GM India, however, saw numbers going down at 4,921 units compared to 5,563 units in the corresponding month last year. Mahindra saw sale of its utility vehicle and cars go up 3%.