Full throttle: Car sales surge 15% in race to pass on GST sops

Up 15% after June slack as automakers replenish stocks at dealerships

Domestic sales of passenger vehicles (cars, vans and utility vehicles) expanded at more than 15 per cent in July — the highest pace in the first seven months of this calendar year. This growth, however, comes after a double-digit decline of 11 per cent in June, when companies regulated sales to reduce dealers’ loss on pre-goods and services tax (GST) inventory. Six leading companies, including Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Honda and Toyota, recorded high double-digit growth, as they replenished the inventory at dealerships.

The country’s biggest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, has sold a record monthly volume of 153,298 vehicles