Maruti aims 20% growth in exports in 2014-15 at 1.2 lakh units

Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India is eyeing 20% growth in vehicle exports this fiscal at 1.2 lakh units, riding on increased sales in non-European markets like Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

In the current fiscal till date, the company has exported over 92,000 units in over 100 countries, a growth of over 23% over previous year and would soon launch its latest model 'Ciaz' in Mexico to add to its export basket.

"We are likely to close the financial year with around 1.2 lakh units, a growth of around 20%," a Maruti Suzuki India Spokesperson told PTI.

This growth is on account of multiple factors such as focused efforts on markets such as Africa, Latin America and Middle East, the spokesperson added.

"This is in line with the Suzuki mandate to drive exports to these markets from India," the spokesperson said.

In December, the company's total exports nearly surged three-fold to 11,682 units, as compared to 4,311 units in December 2013.

Elaborating on the company's export performance during last month, the spokesperson said: "December was good month for us. We added markets like Sudan and Mexico and launched Ciaz in Egypt. Ciaz has been well received in Egyptian market and will be launched in Mexico shortly."

Besides, the company also expanded its exports fleet.

"We have moved forward from exporting small cars and have added models like Swift, DZire, AltoK-10, Ertiga, Celerio which are helping us get good export numbers," the spokesperson said.

The top five export markets for the company so far in the current fiscal have been Algeria where it sold 8,991 units, followed by Chile where the company dispatched 7,456 units.

The company exported 5,736 units to Angola, 3618 units to Peru and 2,328 units to Indonesia.

"South Africa and Angola are other interesting markets where our cars are selling very well. In Angola, we are the number one brand in the market for the past two months. While we will continue to explore new markets, future growth is expected from Non-European markets," the spokesperson said.

Some new models added to the export fleet that have helped the company strengthen its presence in non EU markets are new Alto K-10, Ertiga, Celerio and Ciaz, the spokesperson said.

"Models introduced last year like Dzire, new Swift, new Alto 800 have also been well received in these markets. These models are also available in left hand drive versions to meet the specific market needs," the spokesperson added.

In 2014, India's overall passenger car exports declined by 2.65% to 5,47,087 units from 5,61,972 units in 2013.