The car sales went up by 9.88 per cent in the second month of this fiscal with Maruti and Tata Motors propelling the growth even as Hyundai slowed down the overall sales last month.

A total of 60,618 units were sold in May 2004 over 55,165 units in the same month last year, data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed.

Bus and truck sales, an indication of economic growth, soared by 40.9 per cent at 23,432 units against 16,626 units in May last year.

Two-wheeler sales in India, the second-biggest market after China, posted a rise of 3.70 per cent as motorcycle and step-through sales grew by 4.05 per cent at 361,000 units, while scooter and scooterette sales dipped by 1.32 per cent at 70,444 units.

Moped sales, however, shot up 14 per cent to 25,633 units.

Continuing their forward journey, the utility vehicle sales went up by 18.7 per cent at 12,224 units.

However, the sales of multi-utility vehicles dived by 5.58 per cent at 5,051 units.

Three-wheeler sales grew by 17.8 per cent at 20,722 units.

Last fiscal, after witnessing the car boom, which helped India drive into the coveted club of one-million units a year market, car sales grew for the second consecutive month this fiscal, albeit relatively slowly.

Readily available low-interest loans, rise in disposable income and the launch of an array of models have helped the industry.

India's biggest carmaker Maruti Udyog posted a rise of 5.72 per cent at 32,663 units while its archrival Hyundai Motor India suffered a loss of 13.3 per cent at 7,715 units.

Sales of the third-largest carmaker Tata Motors surged by 31.2 per cent at 11,487 units in May 2004.

Honda Siel Cars India witnessed a rise of a whopping 101.7 per cent at 2,417 units. The growth is largely attributed to increased sales of premium mid-size sedan New City.

The local unit of the world's biggest carmaker General Motors India registered an increase of a massive 70.7 per cent at 1,518 units while the sales of CK Birla group company Hindustan Motors slipped 5.60 per cent at 1,112 units.

The Indian subsidiary of the second-largest US carmaker Ford Motor India sold 43.6 per cent more vehicles at 1,627 units in May this year.

The sales of Toyota Kirloskar Motor skidded by 7.90 per cent at 815 units.

Volkswagen group company Skoda Auto India sold 601 units, while slumping sales of the troubled Italian carmaker Fiat India resulted in a loss of 51.7 per cent at 581 units.

In the UV segment, market leader Mahindra and Mahindra posted a growth of 12.5 per cent at 5,345 units, while Toyota registered a rise of 32 per cent at 3,487 units.

Tata Motors and Bajaj Tempo witnessed 3.88 and 27.5 per cent rise at 2,245 and 505 units, respectively. Maruti's MPV sales declined by 5.58 per cent at 5,051 units.

In the commercial vehicle category, sales of medium and heavy buses and trucks stood at 14,883 units.

Truck sales in the M&H segment surged by 64.7 per cent at 13,204 units as Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland posted a rise of 71.7 and 48.4 per cent at 9,204 and 2,916 units, respectively.

M&H bus sales, however, dipped by 12.6 per cent at 1,679 units with Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland posting a decline of 23 and 12.4 per cent at 847 and 657 units, respectively.

Light commercial vehicle sales grew by 27.7 per cent at 8,549 units as light truck sales jumped 30.4 per cent at 6,668 units while light bus sales went up by 19 per cent at 1,881 units.

Light truck sales of Tata Motors surged by 25.6 per cent at 3,465 units while that of M&M grew by 64 per cent at 2,368 units.

Light bus sales of Tata Motors went up by 36.5 per cent at 875 units and M&H saw a growth of 11.8 per cent at 369 units.

Commercial vehicle sales have been on a northward drive since the last one-year, which was being assisted by a number of highway projects, including the Golden Quadrilateral project.

Among the commercial vehicles, sales of multi-axle of trucks with higher tonnage capacity have been going up.

In the motorcycle and step-through category, India's biggest motorcycle maker Hero Honda posted a robust 26.8 per cent rise at 207,000 units while its nearest rival Bajaj Auto saw a dip of 8.56 per cent at 78,066 units.

Motorcycle sales of TVS Motor Co. slipped by 35.6 per cent at 40,425 units while that of Yamaha Motor India went up by 131 per cent at 20,954 units.

Kinetic Engineering saw a rise of 28.3 per cent to 3,507 units while LML registered a decline of 58.3 per cent at 7,990 units.

Majestic Auto sales skid 39.2 per cent at 730 units. Eicher group company Royal Enfield suffered a jolt of 20.1 per cent at 1,968 units.

In the scooter and scooterette segment, Honda Motorcycle Scooter India posted a massive 56.2 per cent rise at 32,965 units while sales of Bajaj Auto went southwards at 10,122 units, declining by 50.2 per cent.

TVS logged a 16.4 per cent rise at 16,638 units while Kinetic Engineering posted a dip of 34.3 per cent at 2,600 units.

Sales of Kinetic Motor Co. also dipped 23.7 per cent to 5,916 units.

Sales of LML also slipped by 39 per cent to 2,101 units.

In the moped category, TVS witnessed a 12.5 per cent jump at 19,829 units while sales of Majestic Auto went up marginally by 0.29 per cent at 3,071 units. Kinetic Engineering's moped sales rose 52.2 per cent at 2,733 units.

In the three-wheeler segment, sale of goods carriers increased by 38.3 per cent at 8,615 units while that of passenger carriers rose 6.56 per cent to 12,107 units.