Automobile sales in India grew above 30 per cent in July, giving hope of a turnaround in the economy hit by the aftershocks of the global financial and economic downturn.

The July show was the best performance for the Indian automobile industry coming after months of single-digit growth over the past one year or so, figures provided by the Automobile Manufacturers Association of India showed.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's largest car maker, reported a 33.36 per cent jump in July 2009 sales at 78,074 units, against sales of 58,543 vehicles in the same month last year. Domestic sales grew 27.63 per cent to 67,528 units from 52,911 units in the same month last year. Exports rose 87.25 per cent to 10,546 units, compared with 5,632 units in the year-ago period, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

Maruti Suzuki expects its exports to top 100,000 units in the current financial year (2009-10).

"Maruti cars are exported to over 100 countries and the volume of exports is likely to cross 100,000 units in 2009-10," chairman R C Bhargava said in the company's annual report for 2008-09.

The country's second-largest carmaker, Hyundai Motor India, reported a 53.94 per cent jump in domestic passenger car sales in July at 23,193 units, compared with 15,066 units in the same month of 2008.