Well, people may be cursing the latest budget but for some it has surely brought significant windfall gains. Due to the expected price rise of vehicles because of the provisions in the latest budget, the car sales in the month of February have reached a record high.

The major beneficiaries of this windfall gain were Maruti Suzuki, General Motors and Hyundai. These companies cashed on maximum and recorded their highest ever monthly sales. Maruti Suzuki's February sales were up by 20% to 84,765 units as against 70,625 units sold in February 2009. This was also Maruti's highest ever monthly sales.

Tata Motors' monthly sales zoomed up by a whopping 42% to 26,985 units. The growth for Tata was mainly led by Indica, which sold 11502 units alone. The Indian arm of the Korean automaker, Hyundai Motors India, recorded a huge growth of 46% selling 31,001 units in February 2010. The company sold just 21,215 units in February 2009.

A few days back, on 26th February 2010, when the Union Budget was presented the government announced a 2% hike in excise duty. This 2% hike translated in a significant price hike of automobiles after the new budget. Thus, the consumers who were planning to buy a car rushed in to the showrooms to seal in the deal at the current prices. The impact of surging numbers in auto sales was also visible on the dalal street with Maruti and Bajaj Auto's share being up by 1.7%. Hero Honda stocks too zoomed ahead by 1.4%.