Maruti Suzuki Sales Rise 10%, Exports Slump 

Maruti Suzuki Ltd.’s sales rose for the twelfth straight month on demand for its compact vehicles.

India’s largest carmaker sold a little over 1.3 lakh units in December, up 10.3 percent compared to a year ago, according to its exchange filing. Total domestic sales rose 12.1 percent to 1.19 lakh units. Exports fell 6.2 percent to 10,780 units after two straight months of rise.

Maruti Suzuki’s compact and utility vehicles continued to see robust demand. Demand for its vans — the Omni and the Eeco — rose during the month.

• The mini segment (Alto, WagonR) rose 2 percent to 32,146 units.
• The compact category (Swift, Ritz, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, Dzire and Tour S) grew 23.2 percent to 53,336 units.
• The mid-sized segment (Ciaz) fell 35.8 percent to 2,382 vehicles.
• Utility vehicles sales (Gypsy, Ertiga, Vitara Brezza and S-Cross) rose 20 percent to 19,276 units.
• Vans sales (Omni and Eeco) increased 23.8 percent to 11,420 units.

Maruti Suzuki’s shares recovered early losses to trade 0.6 percent higher at Rs 9,790 apiece after the announcement in a flat Mumbai market.