Indians Buy 152,743 Cars in December

Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) said Indian Car sales rose 15.26% in December as customers made a beeline to automobile showrooms in anticipation that the government would roll back an excise duty cut at the year-end.

Car makers sold 152,743 units last month, up from 132,524 units in December 2013, said the Siam, which warned that sales may decline in January and February.

Sales rose as car buyers hastened purchases ahead of the 31 December deadline for the expiry of an excise duty cut the government had offered earlier in 2014. Excise duty on small cars, scooters, motorcycles and commercial vehicles was reduced in February 2014 to 8% from 12% previously.

For sports utility vehicles, it was cut to 24% from 30%; for mid-sized cars to 20% from 24% and to 24% for large cars, from 27%. In June Arun Jaitley extended the excise duty concessions by six months to 31 December.

Siam said sales may decline in January and February but may rise once again in March. This could be primarily because of manufacturers pushing inventory to dealers during December. Sales of medium and commercial vehicles grew, albeit on a low base, by 58.33%.