Maruti expects 10% sales growth this festive season

The country's top car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday said it expects sales to grow by 10 per cent in the second half of the current fiscal on the back on the upcoming festive season.

"In the first half of this year, the sales were flat. Now with the festive season we expect a 10 per cent growth. Therefore, the overall growth this year should be of about 5 per cent," Maruti Suzuki India's vice president (parts and accessories) Amitava Roy told reporters here.

The company's production capacity at Manesar plant was hit by labour unrest and with the situation normalising it expects to meet the market demand.

"We are producing 1,400 vehicles per day at present. By the end of this month, I think it will be about 1,600 units... in November, it will be about 1,800 units," he said.

Maruti's latest model 'Alto 800', a refurbished version of its biggest-selling small car, has already seen more than 10,000 bookings within a day of its launch.

Roy said they are also targeting markets like Chile, where they would launch the car by the end of this year.

Focusing on the diesel car market after the rise in price of petrol, he said they are eyeing sales of 400,000 diesel units this year.