Maruti total sales fall 8% in February

Domestic sales fall 9%, with mini-segment car sales dropping almost 16% year-on-year; exports rise 3%

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) today reported 7.89% decline in its total sales at 1,09,567 units in February 2013.

The company had sold 1,18,949 units in the corresponding month last year, MSI said in a statement.

In February this year, MSI had recorded domestic sales of 97,955 units compared to 1,07,653 units in the year-ago period, registering a fall of 9.01%, it added.

MSI's exports, however, went up by 2.80% to 11,612 units last month from 11,296 units in the year-ago period, the company said.

Total passenger car sales in the domestic market dipped by 10.89% to 83,865 units from 94,118 units in the same month of 2012.

Sales of the company's mini-segment cars, including M800, A-Star, Alto and WagonR, fell by 15.87% to 41,311 units during the month from 49,104 units in February 2012.

In the compact segment (comprising Estilo, Swift and Ritz models), MSI witnessed a dip of 13.90% in sales to 24,021 units from 27,899 units in the same month a year ago.

Sales of MSI's DZiRE model increased by 21.56% to 18,316 units in February from 15,068 units in the same month last year, it added.

MSI's mid-sized sedan SX4 sales went down by 89.42% to 215 units last month from 2,033 units in February 2012, the company said.

Luxury sedan Kizashi witnessed two buyers during the month as against sale of 14 units in the year-ago period, down 85.71%.

MSI also sold 5,957 units of utility vehicles, comprising Gypsy, Ertiga and Grand Vitara, compared to 230 units in the year-ago period, registering a rise of nearly 26-fold.

Sales of Omni and Eeco, however, dipped by 38.87% to 8,133 units from 13,305 units in February 2012.