Maruti Suzuki, India's largest passenger car maker, announced its sales performance for the month of July. According to company claims, it sold 83299 units during the month, which is 1.3 per cent more than the corresponding period of 2012, when it clocked 82234 units. The firm reported that there was a growth of 5.8 per cent in the domestic sales for July 2013. Maruti Suzuki recorded domestic sales of 75145 units this July as compared to 71024 in 2012.
The statement released by Maruti Suzuki confirmed that there was a growth of 15 per cent in the sales of mini cars like M800, Alto, WagonR and A-Star. In July 2013, the company sold 33587 units of these cars, which was 28998 units in the same month of 2012. On the other hand, sales of cars Swift, Estilo and Ritz witness a downfall by 11.9 per cent. Last year in July, Maruti Suzuki sold 15759 units whereas this year it only managed 13882 units.
It must be noted that Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire has been performing well in the Indian car market despite the slowdown. This was confirmed when the auto maker reported a 33.6 per cent increase from 2012 for the month of July. Incredibly, 15249 units of the Swift DZire were sold in July 2013 as compared to 11413 units in July 2012.
However, the slowdown had a telling effect on the Maruti Suzuki's mid-size sedan, the SX4. A fall of 52.6 per cent was reported by Maruti Suzuki, wherein only 322 units of the SX4 were sold in July 2013 in comparison to 679 units in the corresponding period last year. Surprisingly, not a single unit of the Maruti Suzuki Kizashi were bought in the month of July 2013.
There has been a considerable dip in the number of utility vehicles sold by Maruti Suzuki. Utility vehicles like Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga had a total sales count of 4562 during the period. This is a 37.5 per cent dip from July 2012, when Maruti Suzuki clocked sales of 7294 units. Apart from this, there was a fall in the number of cars exported as well. Maruti Suzuki reported a decline of 27.3 percent as it exported only 8154 units in July this year as compared to 11210 in July 2012.
It has been a torrid time for the Indian auto industry on the whole with constant decline in the demand, resulting in lack of growth. Industry experts feel that the situation is likely to remain the same in coming months as the government is failing to control the fall in the value of rupee against strong US dollar. This, coupled with the rise in fuel prices, has hampered the demand for cars substantially.
As India's largest passenger car maker, Maruti Suzuki has devised its own strategies to counter this torrid time. Discounts on cars, launch of limited edition models as well as new cars, free insurance and lucrative exchange deals are some common ploys being used by the auto companies. Maruti Suzuki recently announced a capital expenditure of Rs. 3500 crore for the fiscal year 2013-14. The firm also informed the media about its plans of entering the light commercial vehicle segment to counter the sluggish demand in the passenger car market.
