Maruti Suzuki sales down 8.8% in June

The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) today reported an 8.8% decline in total sales to 80,298 units in June from 88,091 units in the same month last year.

In June 2011, the national capital-based firm reported a 3.8% decline in sales in the domestic market to 70,020 units from 72,812 units in June 2010, the company said in a statement.

MSI's exports also declined by 32.7% to 10,278 units from 15,279 units in the year-ago period, the company added.

Sales of the company's once bread-and-butter M800 model declined by 12.8% to 1,823 units from 2,090 units in June 2010, the statement said.

The A2 segment (comprising Alto, WagonR, Estilo, Swift, A-Star and Ritz) witnessed a 2.4% increase in sales to 52,599 units from 51,418 units in the same month a year ago.

A3 segment sales (consisting of SX4 and DZiRE) declined by 60.4% to 3,199 units from 8,081 units in the corresponding period a year ago, the company said.

During the month, the company suffered a 13-day long strike at its Manesar plant, where it mainly produces the Swift, Dzire and SX4. The firm suffered a production loss of 12,600 units due to the strike.

Last month, the company sold 32 units of its Kizashi luxury sedan, which was launched in February 2011.

MSI's total passenger car sales were down 6.4% to 57,653 units in June from 61,589 units in the same month of 2010, it added.