some people were still enjoying the tail effect of the boom period but industry watchers actually attribute the growth story to the nonmetros where consumer electronics and durables are no longer considered a highticket item the shrinking replacement market whereby consumers are migrating to newer and latest models much earlier has also worked in favour of companies like samsung lg sony carrier voltas and whirlpooladds krishnan sachdev director marketing carrier india at the start of 2008 we thought ac sales would be below our expectations despite a bad summer sales have been reasonably healthy since consumer sentiment is linked to the economy we expect the economy to look better in the coming months which in turn will lead to improved sales customers are also likely to be spoilt for choice in the auto sector apart from the muchawaited nano launch in 2009 there will be splash from the maruti suzuki stable and the jazz from honda despite the troubles at home gm has also lined up two new launches in the cruze sedan and an allnew small car italian carmaker fiat would be launching the linea sedan and the grande punto while mahindra is to launch the xylo all new models at new prices here too bargains and the discounts are likely to continue for the major part of the new year as companies would be forced to offer lucrative deals to pull in customers