Auto industry grows 26% in FY'11; will be 6th largest in FY'12

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), however, forecast a slowdown in the rate and predicted a 12-15 per cent growth in 2011-12.

It also said the Indian industry was expected overtake Brazil to become the sixth largest auto market in the world during this fiscal.

According to figures released by SIAM, total vehicles sales in India in FY'11 stood at 1,55,13,156 units compared to 1,22,95,397 units in the previous financial year.

"We have ended the year on a reasonably high note. We have reached a very very strong base after a consistent good growth in the last six quarters," SIAM President Pawan Goenka told reporters here.

He said a variety of factors, including good GDP growth, higher spending on infrastructure development, strong consumer confidence, government's focus on rural areas, moderate price hike by the auto makers despite steep rise in commodity rates and introduction of new models, helped the industry register the gains in the last fiscal.

There were 24 new launches in the passenger vehicles segment last fiscal. For the two-wheelers, it was 16. Besides, the passenger vehicle and two-wheeler industries saw 40 and 7 refreshed versions respectively, Goenka said.

Talking about the outlook for 2011-12, Goenka said: "We expect the growth for the industry to moderate and settle down at around 12-15 per cent this year."

"This year, we hope to overtake Brazil and become the number 6 automobile market in the world," he added.

In the financial year 2009-10, the domestic auto sales were driven equally by all the segments. The passenger car sales rose by 29.73 per cent to 19,82,702 units from 15,28,337 units in the April-March period of the earlier fiscal.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki's sales during last fiscal jumped by 26.24 per cent at 9,66,447 units, while its rival Hyundai Motor's sales increased by 13.95 per cent to 3,58,904 units. Tata Motors witnessed a rise of 27.21 per cent at 2,56,202 units, SIAM said.

Total two-wheeler sales in FY'11 also increased by 25.82 per cent at 1,17,90,305 units compared to 93,70,951 units in FY'10, it added.

Motorcycle sales in the country during 2010-11 were up 22.86 per cent at 90,19,090 units as against 73,41,122 units in 2009-10.

The country's largest bike maker Hero Honda's sales rose by 14.73 per cent at 49,26,390 units. Bajaj Auto saw its sales climbing by 35.52 per cent to 24,14,603 units in FY'11.

Scooter sales during the year jumped by 41.79 per cent to 20,73,797 units from 14,62,534 units in the previous fiscal.

The sale of commercial vehicles in 2010-11 increased by 26.97 per cent to 6,76,408 units from 5,32,721 units for the previous fiscal, SIAM said.

Dwelling on the forecast, SIAM said passenger vehicles as well as passenger car segments will grow at the same pace of around 16-18 per cent.

Utility vehicles will surge by 12-14 per cent. The two-wheeler industry is estimated to witness an increase of 12-14 per cent over last fiscal, Goenka said.

The commercial vehicle segment is likely to rise by 14-16 per cent. While light commercial vehicle will rise by 18-21 per cent, medium and heavy commercial vehicles' sales are expected to be up by only 10-12 per cent, he added.

As for the three-wheeler segment, sales are likely to see a surge of 9-11 per cent. In March 2011, domestic passenger car sales continued to rise at a healthy rate, registering 24.37 per cent increase to 1,94,199 units from 1,56,145 units in the same month 2010.

Motorcycle sales in the country last month grew by 18.72 per cent to 8,40,941 units from 7,08,369 units in the same month last year.

Total two-wheeler sales in March increased by 19.14 per cent to 10,96,233 units from 9,20,154 units in the same period last year, SIAM said.

Sales of commercial vehicles climbed by 15.35 per cent to 77,688 units from 67,352 units in the year-ago period.

Total sales of vehicles across categories registered 19.42 per cent growth to 14,65,909 units in March 2011, from 12,27,511 units in the same month last year, SIAM added.