However, Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), the country's largest carmaker, belied the industry situation as it recorded a nine per cent growth in the first half over the same period last year.

As many as 10097 Maruti Esteem cars were sold in the first half as against 9259 cars sold last year at a time when it is readying itself for cut-throat competition in the small car segment.

At the receiving end of the slowdown were international giants Ford and General Motors, who saw their sales plummeting by 54 per cent and 64 per cent respectively.

While 1977 Ford Escort cars were sold during the period as against 4331 units soldlast year, sales figures of General Motor's Opel Astra stood at 1973 units over last year's 5470 units, the sources said.

South Korean Chaebol Daewoo, now gearing up for the launch of its small car `Matiz', suffered a drop of 23.6 with total Cielo sales of 4213 units over last year's 5512 units, the sources said. The latest entrant in the segment Honda City has, however, garnered a market share of 20.6 per cent by selling 5090 cars.

Telco and Hindustan Motors (HM) also had a tough time with Telco selling 545 units of its Siera and Estate over 873 units in the same period last year.

When it comes to market share, MUL clocked a figure of 40.9 in the period, followed by Honda City with 20.6 per cent and Daewoo Cielo 17.1 per cent, the sources said.