Indian Car Market Ahead of East European Countries

The Indian car market was bigger and the industry was ahead of many East European countries, Indian Parliament was informed on Thursday. In 2001, car sales were much higher in India than in countries including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, with models like Maruti's Alto and Tata Motors Indica being very popular in some European countries, India's Junior Minister for Heavy Industries Santosh Gangwar said in a written reply. In the year under review, Czech Republic sold 79,945 units, Hungary 138,000, Poland 327,000 units while India was much ahead by selling 601,000 units, he said quoting the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Association (SIAM). The figures of the East European countries were made available with the help of Ward's World Motor Vehicle Data. Recently, Tata Motors tied-up with MG Rover of the UK to export the Indica compact car to Britain and other European nations.