Maruti expects car sales to rise 10%

Market leader Maruti Suzuki said it is expecting 10 per cent growth in sales of passenger cars this fiscal on the back of a higher offtake of diesel versions. “We expect 10 per cent growth in 2012-13. For the industry we expect it to be grow around four-to-five per cent,” R.C. Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki, told reporters on the sidelines of the Hero Mindmine Summit here. “We are expecting 1.5 lakh more diesel car sales, while the sales of petrol cars will be down by 50,000 units in the entire year.” On April 2, the company reported a fall in its total sales, including exports, for fiscal 2011-12 by 10.8 per cent at 1,133,695 units from 1,271,005 units in the last fiscal due to labour unrest, slower demand due to high cost of credit and sluggish petrol car market condition. Bhargava said the company expected exports to remain sluggish in 2012-13 due to global market conditions. “It (exports) will remain more or less the same as last year or may be even worse. Situation in many global markets has not improved yet.” The company’s exports in the last fiscal fell 7.9 per cent at 127,379 units from 138,266 units shipped out in 2010-11. Bhargava said the company’s new plant in Sanand, Gujarat, will be operational by 2015.