Car sales in India rose 12% in April to August compared with the same period last year, new figures have shown.

Recent data on the Indian economy has mostly been gloomy.

But the latest car sales figures are being viewed by some analysts as a sign that things are not all bad for the Indian economy.

Car sales can be seen as an indicator of the confidence of consumers and these figures show consumers are confident enough to spend money, they say.

Luxury cars

Sales of luxury cars are doing relatively well in India, according to the latest figures.

This suggests that the rich are getting richer and are therefore free to spend their money on such luxuries, the BBC's Sanjeev Srivastava told the BBC's World Business report.

"It is very surprising the number of cars Mercedes has sold in the last year. It has never sold so many cars in India," he said.

Hyundai's Accent model, the number two best selling car in the country, and Honda are also doing well, he said.

Rural economy

Sales of two-wheeler vehicles have also increased in the last quarter.

These vehicles are particularly popular in India's rural communities.

Bajaj two-wheelers are particularly sought after and, following sluggish sales figures for the past two years, have shown a jump of nearly 20% in sales.

Sanjeev Srivastava believes this strengthens suggestions that the decline of the rural economy might now have reached its limit.

"There are signs of some cheer also because there has been good rainfall this year," he said.

"If the monsoon does well then the farmers' incomes is likely to go up and maybe they are spending in advance," he added.