Maruti Suzuki has posted a 6% growth in domestic sales in December 2012 to 82,073 units, largely led by a strong demand for the diesel models such as the Ertiga MPV, Dzire compact sedan and Swift premium hatchback.
The car maker recently saw its Manesar plant getting back on its feet after the labour unrest in July-August 2012, and recorded a better performance in the usually slow month of December, when consumer demand is traditionally low. Hyundai and Tata Motors had posted a sharp 10% (to 26,697 units) and 51% (to 14,185 units) drop in sales for the month, respectively.
?Maruti’s growth in sales was helped by diesel models and also because of an extremely low base in utility vehicles where Ertiga is doing well. This base effect will go away around April-May, when if sales in other segments don’t improve, Maruti’s overall growth will slow down. However, sale of Alto 800 has not been doing as well,? an analyst said. Export volumes in December, however, fell 11% to 13,072 units largely on the slowdown in Europe.
