India witnessed a whopping 40.27 per cent growth in the domestic passenger car sales to 1,15,268 units in December last year as against the total passenger car sales of 82,174 units reported in the same month 2008.

This surge in the sales of cars was due to the low base as well as improved credit and customer appetite, said the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Friday.

The sales of motorcycle surged by 76.70 per cent to 5,92,596 units in last month as compared to 3,35,370 units reported in the year-ago month, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said at the 10th Auto Expo here.

Moreover, the sales of total two-wheeler shot up 66.60 per cent to 7,67,796 units in December 2009 as against 4,60,852 units reported in the corresponding month in 2008, SIAM said.

The sale of commercial vehicles increased nearly three-fold to 48,614 units in the month as against 17,897 units reported in the same month previous year, it added.

However, the total auto sales stood at 10,00,500 units in December as compared to 5,97,241 units reported in the same month in 2008.

During the month, the major carmakers in India have reported impressive sales figures. Those selling mass models like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai as well as luxury carmakers like Ford, Skoda and General Motors - all have shown impressive double digit growth.

Maruti Suzuki India reported a growth of 50.6 per cent in its sales in December 2009 at 84,804 units, while the domestic sales surged by 36.5 per cent at 71,000 units. The exports also witnessed a drastic growth to 13,804 units against 4,264 units in the year ago month.

Similarly, Hyundai Motor India Ltd. also registered a 22.64 per cent growth in sales at 47,217 units. While domestic sales in December went up by 42.62 per cent at 22,252 units, exports also registered a hike of 9 per cent at 24,965 units. The carmaker sold over 5.59-lakh cars in 2009, registering a growth of 14.41 per cent.

While in November, the domestic passenger car sales increased 36.7% to 1,13,687 units in November while the passenger car sales stood at 83,121 units in the same month last year.

Further, the sale of commercial vehicles almost doubled to 40,874 units in the last month compared to 20,631 units in the corresponding period last year.