Pre budget blues seemed to have influenced the automobile markets with sales plummeting in Feb 2012.  Fearing the rise in car prices, made the rush eminent, say forecasters.

Newton Said `every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction,’ seems right in looking at the average car sales statistics in the month of February, this year. Fearing the budget hikes, many rushed to buy a car. Car sales in India grew 13.11 per cent to 2,11,402 units, last month. Panic buying was predicted as the order of the day in Feb 2012, across the country.

According to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) this week, domestic passenger Car sales grew 13.11 per cent to 2,11,402 units in February against 1,86,890 units in the year-ago period. India’s largest Maruthi sold 94,118 vehicles, a jump of 7.13 per cent, over the same period last year. While its arch rival Hyandai sold 36,658 vehicles and grew by 12.78 per cent. On the other hand Tata’s sold 28,236 vehicles and the sales grew by 5.46 per cent.

Not to be let behind the two wheeler market also witnessed a surge in sales, but there was an significant change of fortunes. According to SIAM, total two-wheeler sales in February 2012 increased by 11.96 per cent to 11,44,500 units, from 10,22,226 units in the same period of previous year. Market dominants Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj auto experienced mixed trends as per the data available. While Hero witnessed a growth of 9.55 per cent at 4,70,994 units compared to the same month a year ago, the other leader Bajaj experienced a downward trend and posted - 0.59 per cent to 2,03,919 units from the same month last year.

Buoyed by the phenomenal domestic sales growth over the past two fiscal years, carmakers pledged substantial funds to almost double India's annual production. However, rising fuel prices, inflationary trends (in the first half of the fiscal year) and surging interest rates have applied emergency brakes to the growth story. (With inputs from internet- AarKay)