BL reported that car market leader Maruti Suzuki expects that it will sell fewer cars in 2011-12 than it did in the previous year. This is due to a combination of factors slowdown in the economy, high inflation, high interest rates, increasing fuel prices and the production loss it suffered because of labour problems at the Manesar plant.

In 2010-11, the company sold 1.27 million vehicles. In the nine months of this financial year, its sales are down 16.6% to 773,361 vehicles compared to the same period last year. Domestic sales at 684,892 units in the nine months were down 16.5% and exports at 88,469 units were down 17.6%

Mr Shinzo Nakanishi MD and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd said that “We cannot reach that figure (last year's) in 2011-12.”

Mr Nakanishi told journalists that the slowdown in the Indian market was short term and temporary. The company was confident that it was only a matter of time before sales perked up. He added that “We will launch new products, create new categories and offer multiple options to customers, while strengthening our compact car portfolio.”

Mr Mayank Pareek managing executive officer marketing & sales said that However, the company expects to end the fourth quarter of this financial year with higher sales than the same period last year. In December, the company's retail sales at 116,000 were the highest ever.

(Sourced from BL)