Maruti’s March sales up 1.4%, 11% for 2014-15

Maruti Suzuki India’s March 2015 sales rose by just 1.4 percent to 103,768 units from 102,269 units in March 2014.  In the passenger car segment, the carmaker’s bread-and-butter segments recorded tepid growth rates. In the mini segment, sales of the Alto and Wagon R combined rose to 40,159 units from 40,085 units in the year-earlier month, up 0.2 percent.

In the compact segment comprising the Swift, Dzire, Celerio and Ritz, sales were down 12.5 percent to 38,710 units from 44,251 units in the year-earlier month.

The Ciaz sold 4,251 units in March 2015, taking the sedan’s total sales to about 32,000 units since its launch last October.

In the UV segment, the Omni and Eeco sold 11,768 units cumulatively, 20 percent up from 9,752 units in March 2014. Sales of the Gypsy and Ertiga together were 6,216 units, down 4 percent from 6,499 units in the year-earlier period.

The Gypsy has benefitted from orders from the Indian army, selling on average about 450-500 units a month.

For the 2014-15 fiscal year though the carmaker has posted good gains. Its cumulative sales were 1,170,702 units, up 11.1 percent on 2013-14 (10,53,689), and the highest ever for the company. Compared to 2013-14, when overall domestic sales were flat at 0.3 percent over 2012-13 (1,051,046), 2014-15 numbers will have brought cheer to Maruti.