SME Times News Bureau | 01 Feb, 2012
Leading car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki Wednesday reported a modest 5.2 percent increase in January sales at 115,433 vehicles, with domestic sales still continuing to be sluggish.

The company had sold 109,743 units in January 2011.

Successive interest rate hikes and rising petrol prices have dented interest of car buyers since some time now. Also, the inability of Maruti to meet increased demand for diesel vehicles has led to the company registering lower sales.

Domestic sales in January were logged at 101,047 units, a rise of just 0.6 percent from the 100422 the company sold in the domestic market.

Exports, however, recorded a 54.3 percent jump at 14,386 vehicles during the month under review against 9,321 units sold in January 2010.

The mini passenger vehicle segment (Maruti 800, Alto, A-Star and Wagon-R) saw sales drop 2.4 percent in January to 52,036 units.

The compact segment, which has best selling model Swift and other brands like Estilo and Ritz, saw a 22.4 percent rise in sales in the month.

Sales of cars such as Dzire fell 11.6 percent, while the SX4 in the sedan segment reported a 9.8 percent drop in sales at 1,939 units.