Reasons for the rise:

Mayank Pareek, Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki, says government's stimulus measures was the main driver of growth. Last December, the government had unvieled a two-pronged package to boost growth. It had also dropped fuel prices and cut taxes. Festive cheer, he added, also helped boost sales.  "This growth actually started since January last year when the stimulus package from the government had come."

Jnaneswar Sen, Vice-President, Marketing, Honda Siel Cars India, said, “Growing consumer optimism coupled with an array of new launches during the festival season catapulted our sales for the month.” In a press release, the company also attributed this rise to the phenomenal performance of Honda City. HSCI sold 5,129 units of the car in October.

Will this growth continue?

Pareek feels one should be cautious in interpreting these numbers because this 32% growth in October is coming on a very low base of last year. "The right thing would be to see growth over two years. Over two years, the growth is around 12%. On an annualised basis, we have seen 6% growth from the domestic market."

He feels this current growth is not self-sustaining and that the auto major is looking at achieving self-sustaining growth. "This stimulus package came out last December, so we really don't know what is the real growth. We have to wait for at least 6-8 months till the time we see it becomes self-sustaining."

However, Dua says dealer stocks are the lowest ever and the situation is looking very buoyant for Hero Honda.

Plans for the future:

HS Goindi, President Marketing, TVS Motor, says new launches will drive growth in the scooter segment.

Pareek says Maruti will continue to strive for leadership in each segment. "Our company philosophy is to be leader in every segment which we work. Our second principle is to have multi brand strategy in each segment to sustain that leadership. Instead on depending only on one product, we depend on more than that product. Going forward, I don't see any reason for change in that principle. We'll continue to strive for leadership in every segment."