Maruti eyeing double digit growth

Company last year sold 10.53 lakh cars nationally

Auto major Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is hopeful of a double digit growth this year, a top official said today.

Maruti last year sold 10.53 lakh cars nationally, while in Kerala it sold 98,000 units. "We are targetting a double digit growth this year," Tarun Garg, company's Vice Presient, Sales, told reporters here.

In first quarter this year (April-June), Maruti sales saw a 10.3% growth, while there was degrowth in the automobile industry on the whole, Garg said.

The Auto major also improved its market share by 1.4% over the previous year to touch 52.5% in Kerala, he said against the market share of 42.1% nationally.

The Alto, Swift, Dezire and WagonR are the highest selling cars. "We are very hopeful that things would be better," he said.

In June this year, Maruti sold 17,000 units of WagonR, 30,000 Altos, 60,000 units of Ominis.

Kerala is the first state to reach 100% penetration in rural villages.

Ankush Sharma, Regional Manager, South, said Maruti has 1,310 sales outlets across India and 3,047 service outlets.

About 10% of the total sales comes from Kerala. The state has 11 dealers, 24 outlets and 125 emerging outlets in rural Kerala.