UPDATE 1-India's Bajaj Auto sees strong sales in second half

* New launches to double sales in second half of fiscal year

* Top official forecasts "best year" in history

* Bajaj has underperformed industry in 08/09. early 09/10 (Adds details, quotes, shares)

By C.J. Kuncheria

NEW DELHI, June 23 (Reuters) - Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAJA.BO), India's second-largest motorbike maker, expects monthly sales will double in the second half of the fiscal year to March from a year earlier, helped by the launch of two new models.

Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj on Tuesday forecast sales of 175,000 to 200,000 motorcycles each month. In comparison, Bajaj sold 495,698 motorcycles between October 2008 and March 2009, industry data showed, an average of 82,616 a month.

Bajaj, which controls a fifth of the world's second-largest bike market, plans to launch two models this year, one in July and the other towards the end of the year.

"It is our internal estimate and anticipation that this year ... in terms of sales and profitability, will be the best year of the history of Bajaj. That is our expectation based on what we will launch this year," Rajiv Bajaj told a news conference.

He did not give figures for profit or sales growth. The firm has earlier said it expects double-digit growth in sales in the current fiscal year.

By December, Bajaj will increase utilisation at its three plants to 80-90 percent from the current 60 percent, he said.

Bajaj's motorcycle sales fell an annual 18 percent in the first two months of the 2009/10 fiscal year to 220,146, while total industry sales have risen 12.2 percent to 1.14 million.

In the previous year Bajaj's sales fell 23 percent, according to industry data, compared with an industry rise of 1.2 percent.

Rajiv Bajaj said the decline would be reversed as sales of the new bikes kicked in, and exports would rise to 55,000-60,000 a month from October onwards.

Shares in Bajaj Auto, which has a market capitalisation of $2.78 billion, have risen by more than half so far in the June quarter, in line with the sector index .BSEAUTO and ahead of the broader market .BSESN.

On Tuesday, shares in Bajaj fell 1.7 percent to 939.10 rupees, their lowest close in nearly one month, in a flat market. (Editing by John Mair)