Uttarpara (Hooghly), Oct. 6 :     Hindustan Motors? first-half car sales declined 12.5 per cent to 10,274 cars from 11,753 in the same period of the previous year as the auto industry was hobbled by weak demand and excess capacity but the company is optimistic that an acceleration in the second half will push sales into high gear. ?Car sales is expected to go up in the second half of this fiscal. The automobile industry is already showing recovery trends,? R. Santhanam, executive vice-president of HM, said at press conference here today. The company has decided to make new models of trekkers at its Uttarpara plant and plans a December launch for Lancer in Calcutta. ?We also intend to reposition Contessa, whose production is limited to two-three daily,? Santhanam said. HM has sought tax waivers from West Bengal government under the state?s new incentive scheme. ?We are eligible to get tax waivers based on our modernisation programme of Rs 75 crore,?. Santhanam said. In its application for the tax sops, the company has urged the state government to improve the infrastructure around the factory to facilitate smooth movement of finished products and raw materials. However, there has been no response in the form of fresh initiatives from the government so far. Talking about plans to expand its range of trekkers, senior HM vice-president Prabal Chatterjee said his company wanted to make models which would suit all conditions and markets. The Ambassador 1800 ISZ and Contessa GLX have recently qualified for the Euro II emission certificate. ?We are confident of making the 1.5 litre diesel and 2 litre diesel Euro II compliant before April 1, 2000,? Chatterjee said.