While the motorcycle segment witnessed an increase in sales, two wheeler leaders like Bajaj, Kinetic Honda posted lower sales in August.

The passenger car segment recorded a 7 per cent drop in sales in August as against the same period last year with the country's largest car maker MUL reporting a 2 per cent dip in its volumes.

While the luxury car segment is still trying to cope with the severe recessionary trends in the market, major car manufacturers also suffered a setback.

Mahindra Ford India Ltd has seen the volumes diminish from 3,731 to 1,665 units in the same period and Daewoo Motors India recorded a sales drop from 4,580 to 3,813 units, and sold a measly 409 cars in August.

General Motors India Ltd was the hardest hit with sales plummeting from 4,368 units in the first fivemonths of the last fiscal to 1,652 during the corresponding period this year. It sold 329 cars in August.

The latest entrant Honda Siel Cars India Ltd was relatively comfortable in this category, reporting an offtake of 4,180 units during April to August.

Sales of multi-utility vehicles also took a beating, with all the market majors recording a drop. The market leader TELCO has seen its sales slump from 5,066 units in August 1997 to only 3,000 units in August this year, AIAM said.

The languishing commercial vehicle segment continued its downtrend in August with aggregate sales dropping 28.3 per cent as compared to the same period last year, the AIAM said.

In the two wheeler segment, scooter sales fell 4.3 per cent during August 1998 as compared to the corresponding period in 1997.

Market leader Bajaj Auto recorded a drop in sales from 49,133 to 45,667 units in August compared to the previous year. However, its nearest competitor, LML increased sales marginally from 25,637 to 25,896 scootersduring the same period, according to AIAM.

TVS-Suzuki is also recorded higher sales of 8,365 units in August as against 6,448 units in the previous year.

The motorcycle segment is a strong exception to general recessionary trends in the auto industry with all the major players reporting substantial increase in sales.

Hero Honda recorded higher sales of 40,285 motorcycles in August as against 31,032 during the corresponding period in the previous year.

Bajaj Auto Ltd, TVS Suzuki and Escorts Yamaha Motor Ltd also witnessed a rise in volumes during the same period. The moped market also grew by 12 per cent in August 1998 as compared to August 1997.