The fall in exports of the two-wheeler segment, which had registered a 3.5 growth in the first five months, can mainly be attributed to the dismal performance of the mobike makers, especially that of Hero Honda, figures by the Association of Indian Automakers Association (AIAM) revealed.

While passenger car segment registered a drop of 20 per cent, exports of heavy commercial vehilces dropped by over 17 per cent, followed by light commercial vehicles which fell by ten per cent, the AIAM figures said.

However, exports of multiutility vehicles went up by an impressive 44 per cent in the first half, thanks mainly to Mahindra and Mahindra which saw exports gallopping by over 168 per cent.

The scooter segment posted an export growthof about ten per cent during April-September this year, the AIAM figures revealed.

Hero Honda's exports plummeted by over 33 per cent in the first half at 6,686 units as against 4,371 units it exported during the same period last year, AIAM figures said.

Another major loser of international markets was Bajaj Auto, whose exports went down by over 18 per cent. The company exported 4,319 mobikes over last year's 5,291 units, the figures revealed.

The only motorcycle maker to have achieved significant growth in exports was Escorts Yamaha, which posted a 41 per cent jump in exports in the first half by exporting 6,168 mobikes in the period as compared to last year's exports of 4,371 units.

In the scooter segment, Bajaj Auto and LML Ltd extended their domestic success to markets abroad as well by recording higher volumes in the period.While Bajaj exported 4,400 scooters as against 4,280 last year, exports of LML stood at 5,999 units over last year's 4,774 units, the AIAM figures said.

Though Kinetic Hondasuffered a fall in its domestic sales, the Firodia-promoted company recorded a 29 per cent increase in exports.But Chennai-based TVS-Suzuki suffered a whopping 75 per cent drop in exports during the period as the company's scooter exports went down by over 70 per cent. Moped segment also witnessed a 22 per cent drop in exports thanks mainly to the poor sales of vehicles from TVS-Suzuki, Majestic Auto and Kinetic Ltd.