NEW DELHI, (Reuters) - Car sales in India fell 4.4 percent in August from a year earlier, declining for a second month in a row, as rising borrowing costs and higher prices crimped demand.
Data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed on Thursday sales dropped to 94,584 cars in August from 98,893 in the same month a year earlier.
Sales in July had fallen an annual 1.7 percent, the first decline in three years. Customers had bought fewer cars each passing month since April, but sales were above year-ago levels until June.
A jump in inflation to double digits since June forced the central bank to raise its key lending rate to a seven-year high of 9 percent. This has bumped up rates on automobile loans, damping consumer demand.
Automakers had also cut discounts and incentives to trim costs as prices of raw materials such as metal rose.
Sales of trucks and buses fell 6.3 percent to 34,294 units in August, tracking a moderating economy, SIAM data showed.
India's economic growth in the June quarter was 7.9 percent, the slowest in three and half years.
Motorcycle sales rose 16 percent to 485,294 units in August from 418,702 units a year earlier, continuing their revival this year after an 11.9 percent contraction in the year ended March.
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