Maruti Suzuki Sales Grow in 2019, But March Sales Hit Weak

Maruti Suzuki has registered the highest ever total sales in FY 2018-19 at 1,862,449 units, a growth of 4.7 per cent, compared to the 1,779,574 units sold in 2017-18. The company’s domestic sales for FY 2018-19 reached 1,753,700 units, also the highest ever, compared to the 1,653,500 units sold in 2017-18. In fact, this is the 7th straight year of growth in domestic sales for Maruti Suzuki India. But, in the month of March 2019, the company’s total sales went down by 1.6 per cent in the last month of the Financial Year 2019.

Last month the company sold 158,076 vehicles, including domestic sales and export, compared to the 160,598 units that were sold in March 2018. The company’s total sales in India alone reached 147,613 units in March 2019, registering a marginal de-growth of 0.7 per cent, against the 148,582 vehicles sold during the same month last year. Exports, on the other hand, took a massive hit with a decline of almost 13 per cent with 10,463 units, compared to the 12,016 units exported in March 2018.

In March, the domestic market, it was the company’s Mini cars segment, which includes the Alto range and the pre-facelift WagonR that took the biggest hit, a drop of 55.1 per cent by selling 16,826 units, against the 37,511 units sold in March 2018. Same was the case for the company’s mid-size sedan, Ciaz, which saw a decline of 15 per cent by selling just 3,672 units in March 2019, compared to the 4,321 units sold during the same month last year.

In contrast, the compact segment, which includes the new WagonR, Swift, Dzire, Baleno, and Ignis, saw a considerable growth of almost 20 per cent with cumulative sales of 82,532 units. The utility vehicles and Vans segment also saw substantial growth of 12.3 per cent (25,563 units) and 20.1 per cent (22,764) respectively. Similarly, in the commercial vehicle space, the sale of the Super Carry LCV also went up by 82.9 per cent selling 2,582 units last month, compared to the 1,412 units sold in March 2018.