Reeling under the impact of hardening interest rates, domestic passenger car sales growth came down to single digit in May at 9.07 per cent, while motorcycles suffered badly with a 16.36 per cent slump.

According to figures released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in New Delhi on Friday, domestic passenger car sales in May this year stood at 96,922 units as against 88,863 units in the same month a year ago.

In April, the segment clocked 11.25 per cent at 82,934 units as against 74,542 units in the same month a year ago.

Market leader Maruti Udyog Ltd [Get Quote] posted a 9.02 per cent growth at 49,353 units as against 45,267 units in the same month last year.

During the month, rivals Hyundai Motors India Ltd posted a 3.45 per cent increase at 16,617 units as against 16,062 units last year while Tata Motors [Get Quote] was down by 6.8 per cent at 14,217 units compared to 15,253 units in May last year.

Escaping the slump was General Motors, whose newly launched hatchback 'Spark' did reasonably well in the market, propelling the company's sales by 95.62 per cent at 3,625 units as against 1,853 units in May last year.

On the motorcycle front, sales in May were down by 16.36 per cent at 4,77,901 units as against 5,71,367 units in the same month last year.

Chennai-based TVS [Get Quote] Motor Co and second largest bike manufacturer Bajaj Auto Ltd [Get Quote] (BAL) lead the slide in the sales posting decline of 42 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.

Market leader Hero Honda also saw its sales dip by 5.5 per

cent. TVS sold 41,724 units as against 71,731 units, while BAL's sales in May stood at 1,29,724 units as against 1,72,847 last year. Hero Honda clocked 2,69,532 units compared to 2,85,193 units in may last year.

According to the SIAM figures, total two-wheelers sales during May in the country witnessed a decline of 9.88 per cent at 6,06,187 units, compared to 6,72,671 units sold in the year-ago period.

Amidst the declining sales in other segments, scooters however, vroomed by 24.52 per cent posting a total sales of 92,048 units in May as against 73,919 units earlier.

Leading the growth was Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India with a 36 per cent increase at 54,601 units as against 40,154 in the same month last year. BAL followed with 2,315 units as compared to 1,925 units in May last year, up 20.25 per cent.

On the commercial vehicles front, total sales during the month grew by 1.06 per cent at 33,262 units as against 32,914 units in the corresponding month a year ago.

The passenger carriers segment in Heavy and Medium Commercial Vehicles (M&HCV) category did well with Ashok Leyland [Get Quote] posting nearly three-fold increase at 1,480 units as against 550 units in May last year, while Tata Motors was up by 6.12 per cent at 1,005 as compared to 947 units in the same month last year.

However, the M&HCV good carriers segment didn't fare well with Ashok Leyland down by 18 per cent at 3,890 units as against 4732 units last year. Tata Motors was also down by 19 per cent at 9,495 units compared to 11,735 units in May last year.

SIAM said total automobile sales in India during May was down by 6.7 per cent at 7,90,204 units compared to 8,46,998 units in May last year.