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India’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India, has expected to double its exports to about 1.6 lakh units this fiscal, which is about 20% growth in its overall sales.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Executive Officer Marketing and Sales Mayank Pareekh told media on the eve of an AIMA event, "Last fiscal, we exported 80,000 units. We are expecting 100 per cent growth in export this fiscal.”
As per the reports, the company's overseas sales growth was driven mainly by the export of its flagship model A-Star, which achieved sales of over one lakh units till December 2010. Now, MSI seeks a better market share by exporting about two lakh cars by 2010-11.
The A-star car is currently produced from its Manesar facility and is exported primarily to Europe and other countries like Chile, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and the UAE, where it is sold in the name of Suzuki Celerio.
Pixo is also another model which is sold in the European markets.
MSI is intending to export its models to the leading markets in South East Asia and West Asia. Accordingly, it had started exporting its latest model called Ritz to South East Asia.
About the overall sales growth of the company, Pareekh said, "So far on an average, we have been growing at about 20-22 per cent this fiscal and we expect this to continue and overall for the entire fiscal, we expect this level of growth."
According to the reports, Maruti had sold over 800,000 units and out of which domestic market contributed 722,000 units.
"We will produce a million units this fiscal and of course we will try to sell this within the year... So far we have sold about 840,000 units this fiscal," he said.
The company has rationalised and reactivated its capacities and "currently we are producing at peak of our level", he said.
Pareekh is also satisfied with the margins in spite of rising commodity prices.
When asked about the next price hike, he said, "As a company policy at first we try to absorb it. In January we increased prices by less than one per cent."
He was also hopeful of good policies and a sound budget to boost the auto sales as it happened in the last one year.
"It will be early to exit from stimulus measures as those were the main reasons of growth for the industry. It is too early to say that the auto industry has fully recovered (from the slump due to global economic crisis)," he said.
