New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) India’s motorcycle maker Hero Honda Tuesday said that its sales increased 20 percent at 466,524 units during January 2011 as against 389,802 during the same period of 2010.

‘Our strong sales for January have provided an excellent start to the new year and also helped continue the sales momentum of the last calendar year,’ said Anil Dua, senior vice president (marketing and sales) Hero Honda Motors, in a statement.

‘This is the ninth consecutive month of four lakh-plus sales, coming on the back of five-lakh plus sales each in October and December 2010,’ he added.

The cumulative sales of the company in the financial year so far – April 2010 to January 2011 – increased 16 percent at 44,14,537 units as compared to 38,03,396 units over the corresponding period.

The company also continued its strong endorsement and support to sports in the country with the Karizma ZMR Cricket Championship.

Hero Honda, which is a global partner of the ICC, is currently hosting the championship across 75 cities in India and also in Colombo in Sri Lanka and Dhaka in Bangladesh, involving college cricket teams.

At the Bombay Stock Exchange, the shares of the company fell 1.40 percent to Rs.1,607.75.