India enjoys big increase in car sales

       Car sales in India raced an annual 26% in August, rising for a seventh month, and demand is seen picking up in October when annual bonuses are paid in much of the country.
       The government is also set to give out 180 billion rupees ($3.7 billion) in backpay to workers next month, the second instalment of a wage pact agreed last year.
       Industry body the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) said yesterday companies sold 120,669 cars in August against 96,082 in the same month last year.
       Sales in the first five months of the fiscal year that began in April have risen 13%, with the pace of growth in July the fastest at an annual 31%, after rising just 1.3% in the year to March 2009.
       "Some further growth is anticipated.Definitely some build up is happening for the festive season. The last instalment of the sixth pay commission is also expected to boost demand," Sugato Sen,a senior director at Siam said.
       He said Siam, which had projected in April full-year sales growth at 5% in 2009/10, would revise upwards its forecast after September sales are known.
       Car sales are a leading gauge of consumer sentiment in India, in the absence of other indices and the country is one of the few markets in the world where demand has been picking up though volumes are much lower than in China.
       China's passenger cars sales in August rose 90% from a year earlier to 858,300,the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday. Overall vehicle sales, including trucks and busses,rose 82% to 1.14 million. Commercialvehicle sales climbed 60% to 280,200 units.
       In the first eight months, China's vehicle sales rose 29% to 8.33 million, with passenger-car sales growing 37% to 6.22 million. Commercial-vehicle sales rose 11% to 2.1 million.
       In India, Maruti Suzuki, a unit of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, led the growth posting an annual 42% jump in August sales at 84,808 units.
       The company, which produces every second car sold in India, is building a new factory to upgrade its production facilities to meet demand.
       Sales of trucks and buses, a barometer of economic activity, rose 18.5% from a year earlier to 40,624 units, their second straight rise after falling continuously since July last year.
       Sen said a rise in the sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles was a healthy sign and indicated economic activities were picking up.
       Motorcycle sales rose 26% to 611,173 units from a year ago.