Maruti’s A-Star exports pass lakh-unit milestone
03 Dec 2009
Maruti Suzuki India, the country's biggest carmaker by sales, said on Wednesday that its leading export model, the A-Star, has crossed the 1,00,000 mark in overseas shipments in less than a year of its international launch.
The company said in a statement from New Delhi that the milestone was crossed with a batch of shipment leaving the Mundra Port. Maruti had launched the A-Star in India in November last year, and started exporting it from January this year.
The company added that A-Star's 'green' label has made it a success in Europe. The car is currently exported to 69 countries. It is sold as Suzuki Alto in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Europe alone accounted for 93,562 units, Maruti said. It added that it has sold the A-Star in 19 European countries, including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and France.
As part of its expansion plans in export markets, the company would target the East European countries in the second phase, it said.
Besides Europe, some of the other major markets for A-Star - which is produced only in the company's Manesar facility - are Chile, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates, where it is sold as Suzuki Celerio.
