Maruti Suzuki sales dip 10% in Jan

Country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Saturday reported 10.3 per cent decline in total sales in January at 1,02,416 units as against 1,14,205 units in the same month last year.

The company said its domestic sales declined by 6.3 per cent during the month to 96,569 units as against 1,03,026 units in January, 2013.

Sales of mini segment cars, including M800, Alto, A-Star and WagonR, declined by 17 per cent to 38,565 units as compared to 46,479 units in the year-ago month, MSI said in a statement.

The company said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz  increased by 1.9 per cent to 24,473 units in January this year as against 24,006 units last year.

MSI said sales of its popular compact sedan Dzire rose by 12.7 per cent during the month under review at 19,232 units as against 17,060 units in January, 2013.

The company's mid-sized sedan SX4 registered a decline of 81.1 per cent to 191 units as against 1,012 units in the same month last year. There was no sale of premium sedan Kizashi during the month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, stood at 4,763 units in January this year, down 21.9 per cent from 6,095 units in the corresponding month last year.

Sales of vans--Omni and Eeco rose by 11.6 per cent to 9,345 units in January  this year as compared to 8,374 units in the same period of previous year. Exports during the month

declined by 47.7 per cent to 5,847 units as compared to 11,179 units in January last year, MSI said.