Other new car models such as Daewoo's Matiz, Hyundai's Santro and Telco's Indica continued to push Maruti Udyog Ltd's (MUL) share downwards and cornered a larger chunk of the fast growing segment.

MUL failed to maintain the pace with the passenger car sales growth as it could register only a 14.6 per cent growth in sales during the first four months of the current fiscal against the car industry growth of about 40 per cent.

Daewoo sales zoomed up sharply by 154 per cent during the reference period while sales of Telco passenger cars grew by 13 times. Ind Auto sales also went up by 171 per cent during the period, according to data compiled by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

The latest sales figures indicate arevival in the auto sector which was facing sluggish demand till recently. All segments of the auto industry registerd a positive growth during April-July this year.

The commercial vehicles sales went up by 20.4 per cent while two-wheelers, three-wheelers and utility vehicles segments registered a 4.5 per cent, 1.6 per cent and 0.9 per cent sales growth respectively during the review period.

Passenger car sales went up by about 40 per cent to 184,058 vehicles in the first four months of the current financial year from 131,497 vehicles sold in the same period last year.

MUL sales increased by 14.6 per cent to 126,535 vehicles in the same period this year as against 110,403 units sold in the corresponding period a year ago.

Indian subsidiary of Korean auto giant Hyundai, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), cornered 9.5 per cent market share and became the second largest car company by selling 17,633 units in April-July of 1999-2000. Hyundai's only car model Santro was launched in September 1998.

AnotherKorean auto major Daewoo sales were up by 154 per cent during the review period as the company sold 8,640 units of its small car Matiz and mid-size cars Cielo and Nexia against only 3404 units sold in the corresponding period last year.

Tata group company Telco was also a major gainer as its sales grew by about 13 times to 12,010 units mainly because of sales of the company's new small car Indica. Telco had sold 936 units of passenger cars in April-July 1998-99.

Leading names in the global auto business such as Ford, General Motors, Mercedes Benz and Honda failed to impress Indian customers as they registered negative growth during the first four months of the fiscal 1999-2000.

Sales of ford India ltd and general motors ltd dipped by28 per cent and 18.7 per cent respectively to 935 and 832 vehicles during the period against 1298 and 1323 units in the same period last year.

Similer trend was witnessed by Honda Siel Cars India Ltd and Mercedes Benz India Ltd as their sales declined by 13.7 per cent and19.7 per cent respectively to 2,914 units and 350 units as compared to 3,377 and 436 units sold in the same period last year.

Commercial vehicles segment registered a 20.4 per cent growth during April-July this year as all the companies together sold 42,703 commercial vehicles duriing the reference period against 35,454 vehicles in the corresponding period last year

While the motorcycle and moped segments' sales growth was higher by 23.1 per cent and 1.1 per cent, the scooter segment could not perform on the same lines and registered a 11.2 per cent decline in sales during the period.