Led by auto maker Hyundai India, car exports in the first two months of this fiscal have grown a healthy 30.8 per cent while Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda accelerated bike shipments to 43 per cent jump.

According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), car exports in April-May 2006 stood at 31,360 units against 23,964 units in the same period last year.

While Hyundai accounted for the bulk of numbers, shipping 20,623 units at a growth of 30.8 per cent, other carmakers registering handsome numbers included Ford India, Maruti and Tata Motors. Notable was Ford, whose exports jumped 56.5 per cent at 4,181 units against 2,671 units in April-May 2005.

On the two-wheel front, motorbikes continued their strong growth story in overseas markets with exports growing 43.3 per cent at 84,005 units against 58,584 units in the first two months of last fiscal.

Bajaj Auto's numbers saw a massive 114.2 per cent growth as it shipped 45,980 units against 21,456 units in April-May 2005, Siam said.

On the other hand, the growth for Hero Honda was subdued as its numbers grew 8.9 per cent at 19,075 units against 17,516 units in the first two months of the previous fiscal.

Exports of scooters and scooterettees, however, fell 33.7 per cent at 9,405 units against 14,196 units in April-May 2005 as Bajaj Auto and LML failed to get any number. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India grew 12.2 per cent at 6,944 units.

Moped exports also dropped, going down by 7.6 per cent at 7,649 units against 8,278 units in April-May 2005, Siam said.

Overall two-wheeler exports in the period, however, saw a 24.6 per cent growth at 1,01,059 units against 81,058 units, helped by increased shipments of bikes.

On the commercial vehicles side, exports in April-May 2006 were up 27 per cent at 6,218 units against 4,896 units. Strong demand for vehicles of Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland fuelled the demand for Indian commercial vehicles in foreign markets.

On the three-wheeler side, numbers were up a whopping 64.1 per cent as export stood at 18,360 units against 11,182 units in the corresponding period. It was single-handedly led by segment heavyweight Bajaj Auto which exported as many as 17,914 units.

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