Consumer Auto Cos Take Rural Road to Growth FMCG, appliances and auto cos report healthy sales in Jul-Sept, much ahead of urban areas Purchases of consumer products and automobiles in rural India picked up pace during July-September, outstripping the rate in cities, as a good monsoon lifted farm income Rural sales of FMCG products by both value and volume — the number of products sold — increased 13% during the quarter from a year earlier, according to Kantar Worldpanel, the consumer insights arm of WPP, the world’s biggest advertising company. It was the fastest pace of growth in over three years. In contrast, the urban market expanded 4% by value and 1% by volume during this period, the researcher said This is the second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in the rural FMCG market, which helped to boost volumes in the overall fast-moving consumer goods sector by 7% compared with about 4% a year earlier. The rural market accounts for more than a third of all consumer