Maruti January sales at 50,109 units

01 February 2006

Maruti Udyog has reported total sales of 50,109 units for the month of January as compared to 48,544 units during the same month of pervious year. The reported sales volumes are above market expectations.

The company was helped by strong growth in the premium hatchback segment which includes models like Alto, Wagon R, Zen and the recently launched Swift. Total sales of all these models were at 31,539 units for the month as compared to 26,016 during January 2005, a growth of 21.2 per cent.

Sales of the entry-level model Maruti 800 dropped to 8,262 units as compared to 9,625 units last year. Market analysts were expecting far lower numbers for this model during the month.

Sales of passenger vans like Omni and Versa as well as SUV sales were lower during the month as compared to the same month of previous year.

Exports declined to 1,583 units as compared to 3,244 units, a drop of 51.2 per cent.

Cumulative volume sales by the company for the April 2005 —January 2006 period stands at 457,531 units, including exports of 28,242 units, as compared to 438,085 units during the same period of last year.