Maruti Suzuki sells one lakh cars in November

Maruti Suzuki sales in November 2014 went up 17 percent to the corresponding month last year due to a strong second month in sales of the Maruti Ciaz. The company sold 5232 units of the Ciaz in November, much lesser than its numbers in October but strong enough to take Maruti past the 100K mark for the second time this year. Sales figures stood at 100,024 units in November 2014 to 85,510 units in the corresponding period last year. A point to note is that November is the month after the festive season when sales tend to drop. 

But there must be some alarm bells ringing at Maruti head quarters as their entry level hatchback sales are shrinking. When sales in June crossed the one lakh mark, it was mainly led by entry level hatchbacks like the Alto and Wagon R. Almost 48,000 units were sold, a rise of 52 percent to June 2013. In November this segment sales stood at 37,746 units, a 0.8 percent dip to November 2013. October and September speak a similar tale, if a bit worse. The new Alto K10 has arrested the dip in sales to an extent but it’s starting to form a trend. Right on cue though, we can see a conscious decision to move the brand upmarket with a slew of new launches slated in the premium hatchback and compact SUV segments for 2015. 

The Ertiga as Maruti’s MPV workhorse is doing well selling consistently above the 5,000 units mark but sales have slipped by 5.6 percent. It isn’t much considering the numbers but it’s evident that the Honda Mobilio is giving it some stiff competition.