Vehicle sales witnessed decline in the month of December following the slow demand due to the global financial crisis. Sales of passenger as well as commercial vehicles posted slow growth rate. Maruti Suzuki, General Motors and two-wheeler makers Hero Honda and Bajaj recently released their sale figures which indicate the adverse state of automobile sector in the country.

Leading car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki sold 56,293 vehicles in December, posting 10 per cent decline in car sales. Company holds about 50 per cent share of the domestic car market and is posting low sale figures since October. Maruti posted 8 per cent vehicle sales decline in October and 27 per cent decline in November. Tata Motors, Hyundai and Mahindra & Mahindra have yet to release their sale figures.

General Motor sold 4,041 units in December, posting 36 per cent decline. The vice-president of GM, Mr P. Balendran said, "Since the market has slowed down completely, we could not meet our target. We expect the market to improve in the coming months because of the various measures taken by the Government to stimulate the economy."

Two-wheeler manufacturers Hero Honda and Bajaj also posted decline in the vehicle sales. Hero Honda's sold 2.16 lakh vehicles with sale drop of 10 percent. Bajaj also posted 33 per cent decline in the vehicle sales in December.

Senior Vice-President of Hero Honda, Mr. Anil Dua said, "The industry might see further slowdown if the high two-wheeler financing rates and liquidity crunch continue." He demanded cheep interest on auto loans to boost demand in the auto sector.