Maruti Suzuki India Limited, a subsidiary of Japanese auto manufacturer Suzuki Motor Corporation, has delivered its 1 millionth car to Denmark. With this milestone, the company also gained an achievement of exporting one lac vehicles to Algeria. The millionth vehicle was exported by the company on 30th April 2012, which was a bright red A-Star.
The car crossed Indian Territory as A-Star and after reaching Denmark it was sold as Suzuki Alto. A-Star is considered as the seventh generation of Suzuki Alto, whereas the Indian model of Maruti Suzuki Alto is the sixth generation model. The 1 millionth A-Star was exported from India with other 2,200 vehicles, which are produced in India. These vehicles are scheduled to reach the auto markets of Algeria, Denmark, Egypt, Malta, Morocco, Sweden and Switzerland. However in United Kingdom, A-star is offered as the Nissan Pixo.
Among the model line-up of MSIL, A-Star is known as the most renowned brand which is exported in oversees market. The deliveries of this vehicle commenced in January 2009 and since then the company has exported more than 3,00,000 units in over 100 countries. Considering cumulative sales, the sensation of A-star is followed by Alto, which reported sales of more than 2,50,000 units, whereas Maruti 800 also followed the league and registered sales of 2,26,000 units.
Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director and CEO, MSIL, said, “A million cars in overseas markets is a significant milestone for us. Two years back, Europe was a strong destination for us. We have aligned our exports strategy in line with the changed scenario in exports market. The market for us has shifted significantly from Europe to non-European countries. While the A-Star, marketed under ‘Suzuki Alto’ and ‘Suzuki Celerio’ badge in international markets was doing well, we also worked on identifying alternate non-European markets. This strategy worked in our favour and helped us retain our export numbers after European nations withdrew the scrappage incentives. We are happy that cars manufactured at Maruti Suzuki India have found good customer acceptance in overseas markets.”
From the total of 2200 vehicles which were sent in consignment, 1500 were accounted for Algerian market, wherein MSIL has established benchmark in exporting 1 lac vehicles. In fiscal 2009, the company exported around 1.47 lac vehicles among which 75 per cent were dedicated to European auto market. However by fiscal 2011, the exports of Maruti Suzuki substantially increased from 23 per cent to 66 per cent in non-European Union countries. The top-most 5 non-European Union countries are Algeria, Chile, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Nepal.
The cars manufactured by MSIL are plying on the roads of more than 125 countries, spread across 5 continents. Owing to decent exports figures, the company has planned to approach new markets, including ASEAN region, and thus enhance its presence throughout the world.
