Cheered by Maruti, Hyundai and Tata Motors, car sales surged by a robust 24 per cent in October 2003 as customers got attracted to low interest finance and a spate of car roll-outs.

Car sales grew for the seventh consecutive month to 56,232 units in October when compared with 45,325 units sold in the same month last year, according to the data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers in New Delhi on Friday.

Cumulative (April-October 2003) car sales jumped by 23.7 per cent to 375,000 units as against 303,000 units for the same period in the previous year.

Car sales have been steadily growing following an 8 per cent excise duty cut in the budget, ever-dipping interest rates on readily available loans and increasing disposable incomes.

Bus and truck sales also went up by 31.6 per cent to 22,015 units as both medium and heavy, and light commercial vehicle categories witnessed strong demand.

During the first seven months this fiscal, commercial vehicles sales rose by 32 per cent to 131,000 units over 99,833 units, mainly due to satisfactory work on the ambitious Golden Quadrilateral road project, the prime minister's rural road network and a rev up in infrastructural activities.