December 2, 2013: Maruti Suzuki’s sales for the festive November month fell by nearly six percent to 85,510 units as against 90,882 units in the year-earlier month. The company sold 38,040 units of the Alto, Maruti 800, A-star and Wagon R, a rise of 3.7 percent over the year-earlier month and its Swift, Estilo and Ritz sold 18,122 units, down 24 percent from the year-earlier period.

The Dzire sold 15,286 units, up 13 percent from 13,502 units sold last year in the same month. In the UV segment, the Ertiga, Vitara and Gypsy sold a combined 5,840 units, 21.5 percent from 7439 units sold in November last year. The Ertiga itself had sold over 7,000 units in October, thanks largely to a festive boost.

On the export front, 6,630 units were sold, down 46 percent over the year-earlier month sales. Last week, the company announced the recall of 1,492 units of the Ertiga (306 units), Swift (592 units), Dzire (581 units) and A-star (13) models manufactured between October 19-26 this year to rectify a likely problem with the steering column. The new steering column has been despatched to dealer workshops, which will contact the car owners and replace it free of cost.