Maruti Suzuki, General Motors, and Ford posted declines in their numbers due to post-Budget price hikes, high interest rates and rising fuel prices.

\"I have also written to the prime minister, UPA chairperson and petroleum minister, saying the petrol price hike will affect people badly,\" Kerala CM Oommen Chandy told reporters.

The industry lobby said the hike in petrol prices alone would not resolve the issue of ballooning fuel subsidy and immediate action needs to be taken on diesel and LPG pricing.

UPA's move to hike petrol prices by an astounding Rs 7.54 per litre is a flawed policy measure, for it has widened the differential between diesel and petrol to a humungous Rs 33 in Delhi.

The Congress was at pains to justify the decision. Party leaders took the line that oil companies were independent to take a decision as petrol prices had been deregulated.

Led by energy stocks like ONGC, the BSE Sensex on Thursday closed at 16,222.30 with a 274-point gain - the highest in a single day since March 30.

The prices of petrol have increased by more than Rs 25 sinceJuly 25, 2010 - the day governmentdecided to allow market forces to dictate the pricing of the essential fuel.

\"The company is feeling the pressure of input costs. To mitigate the impact, we have hiked the prices of only diesel variants of the new DZire with effect from May 1,\" a statement from Maruti Suzuki said.

India's largest carmaker has announced the setting up of a diesel engine unit in Gurgaon as it estimates two-thirds of vehicular demand this year to be for diesel cars.

India's largest carmaker will boost its diesel car production to cater to the growing demand for diesel vehicles in the country.

Maruti's Alto model (800 cc) will now cost Rs 4,200 to Rs 5,900 more while the price of Alto K10 has been increased by Rs 5,500 to Rs 5,700.

While the company has not given a complete break-up of the price hike across all the models that it sells in India, it said the A7 Sportback price will start at Rs 66.04 lakh and that of the RS5 at Rs 85.95 lakh (Ex-showroom, Delhi).

The company, however, did not specify the model-wise break up of the price increase. In case of utility vehicles like Safari, Aria and Sumo, the hike will be from Rs 8,000 to Rs 35,000.

Mukherjee said there was a need to boost food production through a \"second green revolution\" that would help reduce the food subsidy bill.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers ( SIAM), \"From April onwards, the demand for diesel cars has gone up by more than 24 per cent, while the sales of petrol cars have declined by 16 per cent.\"

A paralysed government, buffeted by corruption scandals and political opposition, appears to have run out of the will to confront the challenges facing the economy.

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra on Thursday said it will raise the prices of its entire range of vehicles by up to 3 per cent from January 1 due to rising input costs.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has cut its sales growth forecast for the current financial year to 2-4 percent from its earlier projection of 16-18 percent due to soaring interest rates and continuous rise in petrol and commodity prices.

According to sources, the public sector firms have been told to cut petrol prices whenever there is a moderation in global crude prices.

Petrol prices have gone up by close to Rs 13 per litre since January this year in four successive hikes. The price of the fuel was last increased by Rs 3.14 a litre on September 15.