The stock markets may have tanked, oil prices may have sky rocketed and interest rates may have gone up. But that has not stopped the common man from walking into a car dealership and driving home his set of dream wheels. Most car companies sold more cars in India during financial year 2007-08 than they have ever done before. And there’s one big reason for this: the onslaught of new models hitting Indian roads.

With more options on the table, customers have flocked to showrooms and the numbers tell the story. Maruti Suzuki rode strong with a 12% growth in sales. While small cars continued to dominate the company’s sales with a 13.4% growth, its brand new Maruti SX4 sedan helped it break the domination of Honda City in the mid-size sedan category.

And as a result, Honda, bound by capacity constraints for most part of the year, found it tough to keep up its sales during the year. But it was General Motors (GM) that recorded the highest growth in percentage terms. Again a new model the Chevrolet Spark coupled with some customer incentives and interesting variants garnered the numbers.

Next in line was Fiat, which saw a revival in sales thanks to its distribution tie-up with Tata Motors. But with just 3379 units sold over the year, the company still has a long way to go if it wants to make its presence felt. The newly launched diesel Palio with the 1.3 litre Multijet engine and the upcoming Linea and Grande Punto may just do the trick.

Another star attraction during the year was the Mahindra Renault Logan, an entry level sedan which gave the existing biggies a serious run for their money.

Perhaps the best validation of the fact that new model launches have driven sales comes from Tata Motors, which witnessed a decline in sales because it could not offer something new to its customer. During the year, company executives reiterated this lacuna, assuring customers that 2008 will be the year to watch out.

The refurbished portfolio includes the new Indica and the much-awaited Nano. Ford too had a similar story to tell. While there might be some sighs of relief in Dearborn, Michigan with the income of $2.3 billion from the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover, the falling sales in market like India must be a cause of worry.