Indonesia's monthly car sales fell sharply by 41.4 percent in January 2006, prompting market leader Toyota to revise down the target, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

Car sales plunged to 26,612 units in January against 45,480 units in the same month last year, reported Bisnis Indonesia, quoting data from the country's largest auto firm PT Astra International.

Toyota, which earlier targeted to book sales of 35,000 units for January, renews the monthly target to 28,000 units.

Toyota's January sales stood at a mere 13,191 units.

Suzuki and Mitsubishi, traditionally fought for the second place, fell to the fourth and the fifth respectively.

Honda ranked the second with sales of 3,598 units, trailed by Daihatsu with 2,842 units.

The central bank's recent move to increase the benchmark rate to 12.75 percent from 8.5 percent last year has driven up loan interest and discouraged auto market, the newspaper said.

Source: Xinhua