Poor monsoon not to affect Maruti biz this year

The country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India, today said deficient monsoon will have no bearing on it as sales in rural areas constitute only 15 per cent of its business.

"The deficient monsoon will have a very minimal effect and any effect will only show after November," MSI Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales) Mayank Pareek told reporters on the sidelines of the FADA annual convention here.

The company is hoping to register a double digit growth in August.

He said the rural market — where demand is expected to be hit due to poor farm production owing to failed monsoon — contributes only 15 per cent of MSI's total sales.

 

"The sectoral dependence on agriculture is still very less. Besides, the resilience in the economy is improving so we do not expect any impact on our sales," Pareek said.

He added that the company is looking at increasing its sales volume in the rural areas in future but did not disclose details.

MSI sold 7.22 lakh units in the domestic market in 2008 and earlier this week the company had said that it expects a 10 per cent growth during 2009.