As the financial year closing on the March 31st, it will remark a new milestone in the journey of the Indian automotive industry. The domestic market will sell close to 12.2 million units in 2009-10 surpassing its previous best of 10.1 million units in 2006-07.

With the growth mainly coming from passenger cars and two-wheeler segment, Society of Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) is confident that the growth momentum will continue in the domestic marketplace even for the couple of years to come.

While the industry is expected to touch the 12 million figure, the growth story is actually backed by phenomenon of low base-effect, new launches (mainly in the hatchback segment) and the easy financing available in the market.

However, the growth is nearly double to what SIAM had expected the fiscal to contribute, earlier, the association referred to a single digit growth for the current financial year. Though, it was later revised to a double-digit forecast, all thanks to the surge in sales the automakers enjoyed during the festive season. However, experts are of a view that this high-base will show slowdown in sales in the coming months as the comparable base will be a little too high.