Maruti expects slowdown in sales this year

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is expecting a slower growth in sales in the current financial year in the backdrop of the slowdown in the market. The growth in sales might drop to 8-9 per cent from 30 per cent in the last fiscal, which was one of the highest growth rates achieved by the company. 

In April – June period, the company registered a marginal drop in sales. This was 22.4 per cent up in the same period of last financial year. In the quarter, the company sold 281,526 units, including exports of 30,843 cars, as against 283,324 units in April-June period of 2010-11.

In June, sales dropped to 80,298 from 88,091 in the same month of last year. Addressing a press conference in connection with the Kerala launch of the new Swift, Maruti Suzuki general manager and commercial business head (south) Manohar Bhat said the company had increased the production capacity of Swift to 17,000 -18,000 pieces monthly as it had a huge back log of orders for this variant.

The company unveiled the new Swift in Kerala market on Friday. The average monthly sale of Swift is 12,000 units and in Kerala this is 900-1,000 units. Swift has a market share of 30 per cent in this segment.