Maruti Suzuki India reported a 35.86 per cent decline in its total sales in the domestic market last month.

Maruti Suzuki produces about one in two of the passenger vehicles sold in the country.

Its total passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market fell 36.14 per cent to 93,173 vehicles in August.

The country's auto industry is going through one of its worst slowdowns in nearly a decade, with vehicle sales falling rapidly and little sign of a revival anytime soon.

India's automotive industry is the fourth largest in the world, employing more than 35 million people, directly and indirectly, and accounting for nearly half of the country's manufacturing output.

Nationwide, according to industry estimates, automakers, component manufacturers and dealers have laid off about 3,50,000 workers since the start of the year, in response to plunging car sales.

Last month, Maruti Suzuki said it had not renewed the contracts of 3,000 temporary employees, as it battled rising inventory amid a slowdown in demand.

In July, domestic passenger vehicle sales in the country plunged 30.98 per cent in their worst fall since December 2000, data from industry body SIAM or Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed.

Maruti Suzuki shares fell as much as 3.72 per cent during the session to Rs 5,824.50 apiece on the BSE.