New Delhi : Sales of passenger cars rose 15.14 per cent in September to 195,259 units from 169,590 units in the corresponding month last year, industry data showed on Friday.

The utility vehicles’ off-take zoomed in the month under review by 37.93 per cent to 66,851 units while van sales were up 15.62 per cent to 16,318 units.

According to THE Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the total passenger vehicle sales, which includes cars, utility vehicles and vans, accelerated by 19.92 per cent to 278,428 units last month.

However, the industry data revealed that sales of overall commercial vehicles declined by 1.95 per cent. The segment is a key indicator of economic activity.

The commercial vehicles segment’s off-take for September 2016 was 61,621 units.

Three-wheelers sales logged a growth of 4.90 per cent to 51,950 units last month.

Overall, sales of two-wheelers, which include scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, grew exponentially. The segment’s sales rose by 21.59 per cent to 1,868,993 units.

Product-wise, scooter sales in the month under review grew by 30.60 per cent to 603,818 units whereas the motorcycle sub-segment sales logged a growth of 16.33 per cent to 1,186,770 units.

Besides, mopeds’ off-take zoomed by 43.71 per cent to 78,405 units.

Nevertheless, the overall exports across categories fell by 8.39 per cent to 313,996 units which were shipped out during last month.

Total automobile sales in September were higher by 20.16 per cent to 2,260,992 units.

According to Abdul Majeed, Partner-Price Waterhouse and an auto expert, growth in the automobile sector is expected to be robust this year across all the segments.

“This is due to the combination of many positive factors such as growth in the economy, better cash flows in the hands of customers, increased public investment in infrastructure, exciting new launches, softening in the interest rate and better monsoon,” Majeed said.

“The inflation is under control due to the steps taken to reduce supply side constraints. One segment where we have seen degrowth is the medium and heavy commercial vehicles, which will grow once private investments speed up in the economy.”