By IANS
New Delhi : Indo-Japanese auto major Maruti Suzuki has registered a 51.5-percent jump in exports during the first nine months of this fiscal, though its overall sales grew by just 18.5 percent during the period.
The $3.37-billion company exported 37,990 automobiles during Aril-December 2007, as against 25,082 units in the like period of last fiscal, the company said in a filing with the stock exchanges Tuesday.
While its domestic sales grew 16.7 percent to 524,633 units from 449,73 units in the period under review, overall sales were up 18.5 percent at 562,623 units, as against 474,812 units in the same period of last fiscal, the company said.
The shares of the company – which offers 11 automobile models with as many as 150 variants – were up 0.63 percent on the Bombay Stock Exchange at Rs.998, against previous day’s close at 991.75.
December saw Maruti export 4,114 automobiles, up 75.4 percent over 2,345 units exported in the same month last fiscal, while its overall sales was up 9.7 percent at 62,515 units, from 56,985 units, the company said.
The sales of its flagship model, the Maruti 800, however, could not match the group’s overall performance. Maruti 800 sales dipped 13.5 percent to 51,985 cars in the first nine months, from 60,128 cars in the like period of last fiscal.
December sales of Maruti 800 saw a 1.4 percent fall at 17,190 cars, from 7,289 cars in the same month of last fiscal.
The best performing segment was the Esteem, SX4 and Baleno sedan segment, that registered a sales growth of 61.4 percent in the first nine months at 36,902 units from 22,870 units in the corresponding period of last fiscal.
Among them, Baleno was phased out earlier last year, while SX4 was launched in May.
Looking ahead, Suzuki Motor of Japan, which holds 54.2 percent stake in Maruti, has planned a major investment of $2.5 billion in a new car plant and an upgrade of the existing unit in Gurgaon on the outskirts of the national capital.
Immediately on the cards is the production of 200,000 units of a new small car, of which 100,000 units will be exported by Maruti Suzuki, 50,000 sold globally by Nissan, while the rest will be available in the domestic market.
During the forthcoming Auto Expo here beginning Jan 10, the global launch of a new concept car – Concept A-Star – has been planned, which has been developed jointly by Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Motor Co.