Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has lauded the Indian automobile and auto-components industry as a proud symbol of the success of Indian enterprise in this new era. Manmohan said the government will take necessary steps to turn India into a global automobile workshop.
This year could turn out to be the best for the Indian automobile industry, riding high on domestic and international demand. Between April and September, Indian companies sold more than 4.86 million vehicles, including cars, two-wheelers and commercial vehicles, in the domestic market.
For the April-September period in 2005-06, sales of domestic vehicles stood at 4.15 million, up 13.4% over the previous year. Prior to this, sales for the same period in 2004-05 were 3.6 million vehicles, a jump of 14.7%.
If these trends hold, industry observers have said, sales could touch 10 million by March for the first time, an annual growth rate of 20%. After China's, the Indian auto industry is the second-fastest-growing automotive sector, totaling about 8 million vehicles.
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