For India’s Motown, August has been a busy month. With the past three months of fiscal year 2015 showing positive growth after a two-year bitter slowdown, car manufacturers are busy unveiling launches and re-launches ahead of the festival season. Late last month, Honda Cars India unveiled the multi-purpose vehicle Mobilio to a warm welcome.The MPV has already got 13,800 bookings. “We are expecting good sales for all our models in the coming festive season,” says Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president (sales and marketing) Honda Cars India. Halfway into August, car companies have unveiled four new models. Tata Motors , which has been losing market share , has launched its compact sedan Zest. “Zest is very significant for us. With it we are addressing a space where we did not have a lot of play,” says a Tata spokesperson. Hyundai Motors India Ltd announced the launch of Hyundai Elite i20 putting out jacket advertisements in newspapers. The car reportedly got 4,600 pre-bookings even before it was launched. Fiat, trying hard to get a grip on Indian roads, has unveiled the brand new Punto Evo.In the luxury segment, Audi launched its compact sedan A3 with a lot of hope. The company expects the new car to contribute as much as 15% of their total sales. It expects to close the year with double-digit growth. “Audi has been growing steadily despite the slowdown. With our new products, it should be one of the best years for Audi India in terms of growth as well as dealer profitability,” says Joe King, head of Audi India.The flurry of launches is not unusual. Typically, most carmakers schedule their launches ahead of the festival season. “Launches are important to push sales. But in bad times it is even more important in reviving sentiments,” says Mayank Pareek , COO (marketing and sales), Maruti Suzuki . Maruti will be unveiling its Ciaz sedan ahead of the festival season.As these new models debut on Indian roads, expect carmakers to do everything they can to create a marketing buzz with discounts, freebies, banner ads and incentive schemes. Maruti says its strategy of segmenting the market is working. Sales in rural areas are growing at 30%. New sales among government employees are rising at 46%. It is now targeting doctors.“For us every drop counts,” says Pareek. Check out what’s likely to work in favour of Ciaz, and six other new models (either recently launched or slated for a launch), and what may not. Also, get an expert view from Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar India , and Vikrant Singh , editor of Zigwheels: