According to the latest figures released by the government, the total domestic car sales fell during the month of December mainly due to high interest rates and high cost of fuel.

The total domestic car sales fell by 12.51 per cent to 1,41,083 units during the month of December compared to 1,61,247 units during the same month of the previous year, according to the new data released by the industry representative body.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) figures showed that the total motorcycle sales during the previous month increased by 4.83 per cent 8,44,113 units compared to 8,05,198 units during the December of 2011. The data also showed that the two-wheeler sales rose 4.45 per cent to 11,37,148 units compared to 10,88,746 earlier.

SIAM said that the sales of commercial vehicles were lower by 13 per cent to 62,786 units from 72,166 units during the same month of the previous year. The data showed that the total sales of vehicles in the country increased 2.77 per cent at 14,51,517 units compared to 14,12,372 units in December 2011.

Sandilya, president of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said, "Negative sentiment among lower-end customers by virtue of interest rates not coming down, high fuel charges; all these put together is hurting sentiments."