New Delhi: Passenger vehicle sales in India dropped 17 per cent in April - their worst monthly fall in nearly eight years, data from an industry body showed on Monday, as weak sentiment, high insurance costs and a liquidity crunch dented car sales.

Sales of passenger vehicles dived to 247,541 in April versus 298,504 a year earlier, data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. Two-wheeler sales dropped 16.4 per cent to about 1.6 million vehicles.

Last month, the country’s biggest automaker Maruti Suzuki Ltd said it sold 458,479 vehicles in the three months ended March 31, down 0.7 per cent on-year, and forecast a weak rate of growth for the current fiscal year.