Hit by poor consumer sentiment, the automobile industry saw its monthly sales decline 18.71% last month, the worst ever in nearly 19 years, forcing the industry to resort to job cuts. The sector reiterated its demand for a stimulus to arrest the continued downturn, particularly ahead of the festive season. As per data released by industry body SIAM, vehicle sales across categories fell to over 18.25 lakh units in July 2019, down from more than 22.45 lakh units in the year-ago month. Previously, the biggest slump of 21.81% was seen nearly two decades back in December 2000. The decline in July was led by the passenger vehicles segment, which saw sales plunge almost 31% to a little over two lakh units. Likewise, total two-wheeler sales in July were down 16.82% to over 15.11 lakh units as against over 18.17 lakh units in July 2018. While scooter sales were down 12% to more than 5.26 lakh units, motorcycles sales slumped nearly 19% to about 9.33 lakh units. For commercial vehicles, which are usually seen as an indicator of economic growth, sales were down 25.71% to 56,866 units as compared with 76,545 units in July 2018.