India's once favourite car, Maruti 800, much in demand in the African countries

Though the Maruti 800 is loosing its sheen in India, the fans of the country's once most iconic car has increased in the international market. The Indian Auto maker exported 8,300 units of Maruti 800 between April and October this year, which is 57 per cent higher than the number of units exported during the same period last year, which stood at 5,300 units.

Shashank Srivastava, executive director (international business development), MSIL said, "M800 exports have risen largely because of the boom in demand in markets such as Egypt and Algeria in Africa. The economic and demographic profile of consumers there are similar to the customer base for M800 in India. Our cars have a strong brand appeal there, which translates into strong sales"

Out of the total exports of M800, Algeria alone contributed 40 percent of the total 16,000 M800 vehicles that Maruti exported until October this year. The demand of M800 rose in Egypt as well where the its sales had dipped last year owing to Arab Spring Crisis. The company has sold 1,600 units of M800 in Egypt so far.

It is interesting to note that the sale of M800 has increased by a big margin at a time when sales of most of the small cars have actually dipped in most of the international market. The overall exports of small cars with engine capacity up to one litre has dropped by 25 per cent between April and October this year and stands at 60,607 units.

"The fall in exports is market specific. While A-Star exports have been growing to countries in Latin America, West Asia and Asean, overall exports of the car have declined because of the recession in Europe where we ship a major proportion of the model. We additionally had to reschedule shipments because of the disruption in production at Manesar. On the other hand sales in Algeria have doubled over last year which has boosted sales of the M800," added Srivastava.

It is, therefore, clear that the future of the M800 which looked bleak is not true, at least in the international market.