Maruti hits small pothole in Feb, sales down 7.89 per cent

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest carmaker, today reported a 7.89 per cent year-on-year decline in its total sales for February, at 1,09,567 units compared to 1,18,949 units in the corresponding month last year.

For February this year, MSI recorded domestic sales of 97,955 units compared to 1,07,653 units in the year-ago period, registering a fall of 9.01 per cent. Exports however went up by 2.80 per cent to 11,612 units last month from 11,296 units in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement.

Total passenger car sales in the domestic market dipped by 10.89 per cent to 83,865 units from 94,118 units in the same month of 2012.

Sales of the company's bread-and-butter small cars, including the M800, A-Star, Alto and WagonR, fell by 15.87 per cent to 41,311 units during the month from 49,104 units in February 2012.

The compact segment (comprising the Estilo, Swift and Ritz models) saw a dip of 13.90 per cent in sales to 24,021 units from 27,899 units in the same month a year ago.

Sales of MSI's DZiRE model increased by 21.56 per cent to 18,316 units in February from 15,068 units in the same month last year, it added.