Maruti Suzuki, the largest car manufacturer in India has reported that the sales of its diesel cars continue to decline resulting in a flat sales growth projection for the fiscal 2013-14. Currently, the sales of diesel cars make up for about 54 percent of the total passenger car sales.
The Japanese carmaker posted 3 percent increase in its sales in the previous fiscal 2012-13. It however doesn’t expect the sales to pick up in the current 2013-14 fiscal. Confirming the same, the projected car sales as reported by the Society of Indian Automobile manufacturers (SIAM), which was earlier stated to be 3-5 percent, has now been revised to no sales increment for the fiscal.
The exports of the automaker also remain at a low during the period. Earlier projected at 1,20,000 units, the carmaker expects its exports to decline as well in the fiscal 2013-14. As it is, the auto industry has witnessed continuous decline in sales for the first nine months of 2013-14.
The carmaker is now ramping up its operations in the rural areas which currently make up for 30 percent of its total sales and has witnessed a growth of 18 percent in the period April to November, 2013. With sales growth in focus, the carmaker targets distribution expansion to about 1,00,000 villages by the month of March 2014. The carmaker had presence in 45,000 villages in the last fiscal 2012-13.