Maruti Suzuki Nov sales fall 19%; mini car sales slide 27%

Moneycontrol Bureau

Maruti Suzuki's total vehicle sales in November tumbled 18.5% year-on-year to 91,772 units, as a huge drop in sales of its mini cars and vans, offset a rise in sales of its super compact and mid-size cars. While India's largest passenger car maker's sales in the domestic market were down 19.2% from a year ago at 82,870 units in November, exports slipped 11.4% at 8,902 units. Passenger car sales in India have slumped this year as expensive loans and several rounds of petrol price hikes has dented customer demand. Maruti Suzuki was also hit by labour unrest at its Manesar plant in June and October, which sent production schedules of the Swift premium hatchback haywire. New car launches by competition like the Honda Brio, Toyota Etios Liva and more recently the Hyundai Eon, which competes with Maruti