The country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki, which has a market share of over 50 percent in the Indian auto market, has witnessed a sharp fall in sales of 20.8 per cent in the month of September 2011. The company managed to sell 85,565 units of its cars during the month as compared to 108,006 units sold in the same month last year.
The company has said that the more than a month long standoff at its Manesar manufacturing plant, halted the production, which in turn impacted the sales and distribution severely. In a statement issued by the firm, it said, "The disruption in production owing to the labour issue at the company's Manesar plant during September adversely impacted the sales numbers during the month."
The sales of company’s compact small cars including Maruti 800, Alto, Wagon R and A-Star, stood at 37,324 units as against 48,780 units sold in the same month last year, accounting for a sales dip of 23.5 percent.
The total sales of the mid-size compact car segment (including Swift, Ritz and Zen Estillo) stood at 19,722 units, as compared to 21,749 units sold in the month of September 2010. On the other hand the sales of entry level sedan Maruti Swift Dzire stood at 8,566 units as compared to 9,411 units sold in the same month last year.
Maruti SX4 remained the biggest loser in the Maruti’s India portfolio with sales dipping by as much as 90 percent. The total sales of the car stood at 196 units as compared to 1,965 units sold in the same month last year.
