New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS): The passenger car segment in India may post only a marginal or flat growth in the current fiscal owing to high interest and fuel costs and dampened consumer sentiment, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) said Wednesday.

According to SIAM, which reduced its passenger car sales forecast for the third time in the current fiscal, the sales growth may be flat between nil to one percent for the year ended March 31, 2013.

Last time in October, the automobile association had reduced its estimates of moderate 1-3 percent.

Three months earlier, it had projected that the segment would grow by 9-11 percent and before that at about 10-12 percent.

For December, SIAM reported a decline of 12.5 percent in car sales at 141,083 units from the 161,247 units in December 2011.

It also cut its growth forecast for two-wheeler segment's mainstay product, motorcycles, to 3-5 percent from 5-7 percent.

For last month, SIAM reported an increase of five percent in motorcycle sales which stood at 844,113 units from the 805,198 units sold in the corresponding period of last year.

However, in the last quarter of April-September, the motorcycle sales had marginally declined by 0.79 percent to 4,970,590 units.