Mahindra & Mahindra sees weaker vehicles sales in rural areas

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd sees industry sales including that of its vehicles in rural areas weakening because of deficient monsoon rains in parts of the country, a top company official told reporters on Wednesday. India's economy is dependent on agriculture and relies heavily on the monsoon to irrigate the majority of its farmland. Low rainfall affects incomes and sentiment in rural areas. Monsoon deficiency is the biggest concern and will be a dampener for the industry, hurting sales growth, Pawan Goenka, executive director at Mahindra and president of its auto and farm sectors said. India's monsoon rains are likely to be below the prior forecast, the weather office chief said earlier on Wednesday, which could make it the driest year since 2009 and worsen rural incomes by cutting farm output. Mahindra's vehicle sales fell 8.5 percent in the first four months of the fiscal year started April 1, from the same period a year ago, while total passenger vehicles sales in India rose 7.5 percent, industry data showed. (Reporting by Aditi Shah, editing by David Evans)