Car sales fall 19% in August, first in 10 months

Car sales in India fell for the first time in 10 months in August, and motorcycle sales fell for the first time since January 2009, an industry body said, as high interest rates and slowing economic growth dragged down demand.

Automakers sold 118,142 cars in August, down 18.6% from a year ago, according to data released on Monday by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Weak demand was compounded by a factory shutdown at market leaderMaruti Suzuki  that slashed its sales by 41%.

Sales of motorcycles fell 8.5% to 766,127 vehicles. Truck and bus sales stood at 66,767 vehicles, up 3.9%.