Maruti's May car sales climb to record on new models

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the nation's biggest carmaker, posted highest-ever monthly sales in May as new models and rising consumer incomes boosted demand.

Maruti sold 102,175 vehicles worldwide during the month, 28 percent more than a year ago, it said in a statement today. Exports were 12,134 units, the New Delhi-based automaker said.

The Suzuki Motor Corp. unit introduced the Eeco van and a new version of the WagonR compact this year to compete with new hatchbacks from Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG, and to take advantage of accelerating economic growth in the India. In the quarter that ended in March, India's economy grew 8.6 percent, the government statistics office said yesterday.

Maruti rose as much as 4.9 percent, the most in more than three months, in Mumbai, reversing earlier declines, and changed hands for 1,292.5 rupees as of 12:08 p.m. The benchmark Sensex fell 0.5 percent.