Maruti sees 15% rise in May domestic sales; exports down 36%

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has reported a 15.1 rise in domestic sales of passenger vehicles (cars, utility vehicles and vans) in May. The company sold a total of 130,248 units in the domestic market against 113,162 units in same month last year, according to a BSE filing.

However, exports were down in May 2017, with the carmaker posting a decline of 36.3 per cent in exports at 6,286 units against 9,872 units shipped in May last year.

In total, Maruti Suzuki India sold a total of 136,962 units during May this year. The company had sold a total of 123,034 units in May 2016.

Most of the Maruti products reported strong growth. The utility vehicle segment jumped 66 per cent to 22,608 units while the mini segment (Alto and WagonR) grew 18 per cent to 39,089 vehicles.

The compact segment, including Baleno, Ignis, Dzire, saw an increase of 10 per cent to 51,234 units.

The carmaker has discontinued the Dzire Tour that sold 2,555 units in May 2016.

In the mid-size segment the Ciaz experienced a decline of 8.9 per cent with sales of 4,724 units in May 2017 against 5,188 units sold in the same month of the previous year.

In the van segment sales of  Omni and Eeco grew 3.5 per cent with sales of 12,593 units in May 2017 against 12,164 units in the same month of the previous year.

Maruti had entered the LCV segment with its Super Carry last year and has sold 428 units in May 2017.

The company's stock hit a new high of Rs7,249 on the BSE early today.

The double-digit growth by Maruti, which has a market share of over 47 per cent, will help the industry as a whole post a decent growth for the month.