BS reported that the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has come up with a revised format in accordance with which sales data of automobile manufacturers will be reported from this month.

Senior director Mr Sugato Sen said that “The existing format was put in place in 2002. Since then the automobile industry has undergone a major transformation. There are more cars available due to which we felt the need to increase segmentation and provide more detailed data.”

The passenger vehicle segment would now have nine categories with cars being reclassified according to their length, price and engine capacity. Earlier the segment had models classified under six sub segments.

The new category the micro sub segment has TATA Nano as the sole contender. The two additional sub segments are the super compact category which would include cars with length between 4,000mm and 4,250mm and the coupe which would cover 2 to 4 door roadsters with firm or retractable roofs.

Utility vehicles were earlier classified into two sub segments on the basis of the number of seats and mass have now been re grouped into five sub segments depending on the length and price. The first three segments UV1, UV2 and UV3 would have products priced up to INR 1.5 million. While the UV4 sub segment would group products tagged between INR 15 and INR 2.5 million, UV5 would report sales of products priced above INR 2.5 million.

Mr Sen said the industry body has held discussions with members and they would release model wise sales numbers possibly from this month onwards. The data would be disclosed a week after the monthly report is released by SIAM.

(Sourced from BS)