Car sales in India zoomed past the one million mark for the first time in 2003-04, making the country an attractive destination for the global car manufacturers.

Total passenger vehicle sales, including exports, reached 1.03 million units last fiscal, data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed.

The year gone by was very eventful for automakers who reaped benefits of higher 8 per cent GDP growth, excise duty reduction, brisk activities in infrastructure sector and softening interest rates, SIAM president Jagdish Khattar said at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday.

Passenger car sales should post 10-15 per cent sales growth during this fiscal, he said.