Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the country's largest passenger car maker, has officially declared that the domestic auto market is going through one of its worst times. Even, the upcoming festive season may not help the auto industry to report some brilliant sales figures. Expressing his views on the same, the Chief Operating Officer for Marketing & Sales at Maruti Suzuki, Mayank Pareek was quoted as saying, “We are hoping sales will pick up in the festival season but we are not expecting very strong sales considering the current macro-economic conditions. It will not be as euphoric as last year.”
He further explained that fall in the value of rupee against strong US dollar is pressurising the profit margins of auto makers. Also, offering freebies and goodies is not helping in order to boost the demand for cars in India. It must be noted that the amount of discounts offered by Maruti Suzuki in this year have been increased by 20 per cent in comparison with the 2012 with the average discount being somewhere around Rs. 14,600. Embarking on a positive side, Pareek affirmed that the auto maker is anticipating to pull in some decent volumes from rural markets of the Indian auto space, owing to a good monsoon season of this year. He further added that at present, around 30 per cent of the Maruti Suzuki's sales are reported from the rural markets. Also, expansion plans of the company would be reaching out to more villages of the country in the near future.
The official statement of Maruti Suzuki said that the difference between the prices of petrol and diesel cars is getting narrower and this is not a worrying situation for the company as demand for petrol models is making a revival in recent months. The company, which did not have a small diesel engine in its Indian portfolio, has recently introduced a new hatchback, Stingray, to woo the price sensitive domestic buyers. Priced between Rs. 4.1 lakh and Rs. 4.6 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi), the model has been based on the platform of current generation WagonR model. In order to cater different demands of Indian buyers, Stingray has been offered in Lxi and Vxi variants along with optional Anti-lock Braking System and airbags in the Vxi variant.
The newly launched model from Maruti Suzuki has been packed with a host of features, which are sure to strike right chords with the hearts of Indian buyers. Advancements like projector headlamps, reflector grille, alloy wheels, in-built advanced audio system and passenger seat under-tray are few highlights of the same. Also, the model has been equipped with a performance oriented engine, which returns a fuel efficiency of 20.51 kmpl.
