Despite the demonetisation hangover and GST rollout, car and SUV sales in calendar 2017 grew at the fastest pace since 2013 and surpassed the 3 million mark for the first time.Sales of passenger vehicle grew 9.2 per cent to nearly 3.2 million from 2.9 million units in 2016. These are initial estimates and the final figures could be even higher, TOI reported.Auto stocks managed to outpace the benchmark equity index in 2017. The BSE Auto index soared 32 per cent, while the Sensex gained 28 per cent during the year gone by.Country’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki’s stock soared 82.81 per cent to Rs 9,731 as of December 29 from Rs 5,323 on December 30, 2016.On Monday, the carmaker reported a 10.3 per cent jump in December sales at 130,066 units compared with 117,908 units sold in the same month of 2016.Global brokerage Morgan Stanley recently raised its target price for Maruti to Rs 10,563 from Rs 9,102 earlier. It expects the stock to hit Rs 14,400 in a bull case scenario. Shares of the company were trading 0.14 per cent down at Rs 9,652 in early trade on January 2, 2018.Motilal Oswal also has a ‘buy’ rating on Maruti Suzuki and M&M with price targets of Rs 9,918 and Rs 749, respectively.Other auto majors including M&M gained 27 per cent in last 12 months, whereas those of Tata Motors slipped 9 per cent in 2017.M&M on Monday reported a 8 per cent rise in total sales, including exports, for December. M&M’s total sales increased to 39,200 units from 36,464 units sold in December 2016.Hindustan Motors jumped 40 per cent to Rs 9.64 from Rs 6.91 during the same period. Favourable monsoon supported demand growth in 2017.“We prefer four-wheelers to 2-wheelers and commercial vehicles due to stronger volume growth and a stable competitive environment. Our top picks in autos are Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors,” brokerage Motilal Oswal said in a report.