Car sales in India rose consecutively for the 13th month in February to 153,845 units from 115,505 vehicles in February 2009, up by over 33 per cent, data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed on Monday.

Higher car sales in February are explained by a rush of customers to avoid expected price hike in the Union Budget 2010-11. February sales even surpassed sales of 145,905 units in January, the previous high.

Analysts expect the demand level to remain fairly high in March also before the new emission norms come in to existence further raising the prices. As per SIAM's Director General Dilip Chenoy, the demand would remain intact in March, but it might face a hurdle after costs rise due to new emission rules.

Starting from April 1, automobile manufacturers will have to adhere to Euro-IV norms. It is widely expected that the rise in cost due to the same will be passed on to the consumers.

Earlier in 2005 when the Euro-III norms were implemented, the industry witnessed a 29 per cent drop in car sales, on a month-on-month basis, to 63,000.