New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS): The total domestic passenger vehicle sales rose by 14.40 per cent in January, industry data showed on Thursday.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), total sales of passenger vehicles, which include cars, utility vehicles and vans, surged to 265,320 units last year from 231,917 units sold during the corresponding month of 2016.

On the sub-segment basis, sales of passenger cars rose by 10.83 per cent in the month under review to 186,523 units from 168,303 units in January last year.

The utility vehicles' off-take during the month zoomed by 24.47 per cent to 62,264 units, while the sales of vans edged up by 21.65 per cent to 16,533 units.

In contrast, the industry data revealed that sales of overall commercial vehicles came down by 0.72 per cent to 61,239 units in January. The segment is a key indicator of economic activity.

The three-wheelers segment sales plunged by 28.21 per cent to 31,345 units during the month.

In addition, overall sales of two-wheelers, which include scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, declined by 7.39 per cent to 1,262,141 units.

Product-wise, scooter sales in the month under review dipped by 14.50 per cent to 373,382 units, while the motorcycle sub-segment sales logged a decline of 6.07 per cent to 819,386 units.

On the other hand, mopeds' off-take augmented by 28.83 per cent to 69,373 units.

The industry data disclosed that the Indian automobile sector reported a decline of 4.71 per cent during January 2017 -- with total sales at 1,620,045 units across segments and categories.

Moreover, the overall exports across categories slipped by 7.67 per cent to 255,301 units which were shipped out during last month.