Sales In India Brisk

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Domestic car sales in India rose 21 percent from a year earlier in November. India is no China yet. But as its per capita GDP has crossed the magical $1000, car sales are waking up with a vengeance. This is one rule I learned in this business, and it never fails. China has more than three times the per capita GDP of India, and you know what kind of a run that caused.

Total sales in November were 161,497 from 133,703 a year earlier, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers told the Wall Street Journal.

Absolute market leader remains Maruti Suzuki. They gained 29 percent to 87,618 units and extended their market share. Hyundai comes second with 31,501 cars sold, up 12 percent. Tata’s sales disintegrated to the tune of minus 34 percent to only 12,234 cars.

Biggest percentage gainer: Volkswagen. They sold 4,612 Polos and Jettas in November, up from 180 a year earlier.

If you want to stake you claim for the future, and you have a 10 to 15 year time horizon, start making cars in India.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
 1 comment
Next