Maruti Suzuki crosses 15 lakh units milestone in cumulative exports

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Friday announced crossing the milestone of 15 lakh vehicles in its cumulative exports.

"These vehicles have been exported to over 100 countries including Europe, Latin America and Africa. Early this year, the company's premium hatchback Baleno, manufactured exclusively in India, became the first car to be exported from India to Japan," the company said in a statement.

MSI had started exports to Europe in 1987-88, when a small number of cars were sent to Hungary.

"Thereafter, exports have grown at a steady pace, as new models and markets were added from time to time. Although exports business is inherently subject to economic and policy changes in the destination countries, the company has been able to maintain an upward trend in exports over the years," it said.

MSI Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said: "Maruti Suzuki has consistently maintained a presence in international markets, regularly offering new products and reaching out to new countries. Our products like Zen, A-Star, Maruti 800 and Alto have made a mark overseas, including in the most competitive markets of Europe."

In 2015-16, MSI's top five exported models were Alto, Swift, Celerio, Baleno and Ciaz. Among destinations, Sri Lanka, Chile, Philippines, Peru and Bolivia were the top export markets .

MSI's newly launched light commercial vehicle, Super Carry, is also exported to South Africa and Tanzania and will be exported to SAARC countries in the future, it said.

The company's hatchback Zen, India's world car of the 1990s, took the company to many new markets. Exports were bolstered also by the iconic Maruti 800 and later, A-Star.

Alto, the company's best selling model in India for over a decade also has a sizeable presence in the export markets, having clocked over 3,90,000 sales cumulatively, MSI added.