Maruti, the country's biggest car maker, said sales during the month rose 14.6 per cent to 64,143 units. Small car sales grew 13 per cent, clocking 57,461 units, which constituted almost 90 per cent of the company's overall domestic sales.
Exports jumped up by 41 per cent to 4,858 units as as against 3,448 units last year. The company raised prices by Rs 1,000-18,000 across models last month.
"A lot of buyers advanced their purchase on account of the imminent price hike. As a result, we may see a subdued growth in volume in the coming months," said a Mumbai-based analyst, who declined to be identified.
Korean car producer Hyundai Motors recorded a growth of 47 per cent during the month as demand for its models like Santro, i10 and Getz continued to gather momentum. The company posted domestic sales of 24,510 units in May as against 16,643 units in May 2007.
The company also posted a rise of 57 per cent at 15,751 units in exports from 10,005 units last year. Hyundai is the largest exporter of cars from the country.
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Arvind Saxena, senior vice-president (marketing and sales), Hyundai Motor India, said, "In spite of a slowdown in the industry due to higher interest rates, HMIL has been able to emerge with strong figures primarily because of a dominant presence in the compact car segment where both our offerings - Santro and i10 - are becoming segment leaders. We have sold around 50,000 units of the i10 in the first five months of 2008."
Hyundai, too, had indicated that it will raise its prices by 2 per cent from the first week of June across all models.
Tata Motors, India's third largest car maker, meanwhile, posted a growth of 9 per cent at 19,234 units over the corresponding month of the previous year when it posted sales of 17,580 units.
Although sales of the Indica continued to decline (19 per cent in May) selling 9,686 units, Indigo reported a rise of 105 per cent with sales of 4,542 units, thanks mainly to the compact version of the car. Safari and Sumo together sold 5,006 units during the month.
Sales in Mahindra & Mahindra's (M&M) utility vehicle segment grew by nearly 19 per cent to 13,048 units as against 10,986 units in the corresponding month of the previous year.
Although its flagship brand Scorpio reported a nominal increase of 2 per cent, the company's growth was driven by other models like Bolero, Invader and pick-up vehicles.
Meanwhile, sales of Logan from the company's joint venture project with French giant Renault saw a dip by 40 per cent mainly on account of the high base effect of the same month last year. In all, the company sold 1,531 Logan units during the month as compared with 2,551 in May 2007.
US car maker General Motors recorded a nominal increase of 7 per cent in sales as it grew to 5,789 units in the reporting month as against 5,432 units posted in the same month of the previous year.
Small car Spark, which is also facing production constraint, has contributed more than half of the total sales of the company, selling 2,250 units in May.
"The industry has seen some growth, primarily driven by new models. However, the overall market sentiment remains sluggish. The market is also worried because of the steady increase in inflation, which has led to a sudden surge in input costs for all manufacturers. The fear of impending increase in fuel prices, rising interest rates and threat of the global recessionary trend are affecting the growth of the sector," said P Balendran, V-P, GM India.
Czech car maker Skoda posted an increase of 122 per cent, selling 1,802 units last month compared with 810 units a year earlier.
Sales were primarily helped by an increased demand for compact car Fabia. The company also sells luxury lines, including Octavia, Laura and Superb in India.
Honda Siel Cars sold 3,944 units, witnessing a drop of 18 per cent during the month. The company had sold 4,811 units during the corresponding month of the previous year. It sells models like City, Civic, CRV and Accord.
Chennai-based bike maker TVS Motors recorded a sales growth of 4 per cent in May to 112,770 units as against 108,151 units sold in the same month of the previous year.
During the month, the company's motorcycle sales posted 10 per cent growth, recording 54,717 units in comparison to 49,651 units in May 2007.