Maruti's sales in March fall 5%; rise 3% in FY13

Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday reported 4.78 per cent decline in its total sales in March at 1,19,937 units from 1,25,952 units in the same month last year.

For the entire 2012-13 financial year, however, the company's total sales increased by 3.33 per cent to 11,71,434 units from 11,33,695 units in 2011-12, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement.

In March 2013, the New Delhi-based firm reported its domestic sales at 1,07,890 units, a decrease of 4.29 per cent over 1,12,724 units in March 2012, it added.

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"On a year-on-year comparison, yes we are down this March, but on a sequential basis this is the highest sales in the last 12 months.

"Perhaps the market has bottomed out and we might see little bit of recovery around second quarter this fiscal," MSI Chief Operating Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek.

MSI's exports last month went down by 8.93 per cent to 12,047 units from 13,228 units in the year-ago period, the company said.

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Sales of the company's mini segment cars, including the M800, A-Star, Alto and WagonR, fell by 14.73 per cent to 45,047 units from 52,826 units in March 2012.

In the compact segment (comprising Estilo, Swift and Ritz models), MSI witnessed a 7.33 per cent dip in sales to 25,868 units from 27,913 units in the same month a year ago.

Sales of MSI's DZiRE model increased by 22.05 per cent to 20,078 units from 16,451 units in the corresponding period a year ago.

In addition, MSI's mid-sized sedan SX4's sales slipped by 40.59 per cent to 903 units from 1,520 units in the year-ago month, MSI said.

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Luxury sedan Kizashi witnessed no buyer last month compared to sales of 48 units in March 2012, it added.

However, sales of utility vehicles went up by over four-fold to 6,488 units from 1,530 units in the year-ago period.

Sales of vans dipped by 23.56 per cent to 9,506 units from 12,436 units in the same month last year.

MSI's total passenger car sales fell 6.95 per cent to 91,896 units in March from 98,758 units in the same month in previous year, it added.

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During the 2012-13 fiscal, MSI's domestic sales increased by 4.44 per cent to 10,51,046 units from 10,06,316 units in the previous fiscal, the company said.

Exports during the year, however, declined by 5.49 per cent to 1,20,388 units from 1,27,379 units in 2011-12, it added.

Total passenger car sales in 2012-13 stood at 8,61,337 units against 8,55,730 units in the previous fiscal, up 0.66 per cent.