In a bid to make a mark in the big car segment, India's top car maker Maruti Suzuki launched mid-sized sedan Ciaz. The car is available in petrol and diesel fuel options powered by a 1.4 litre and 1.3 litre engines respectively. Bookings opened on September 3.
Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18's Farah Bookwala, Chairman RC Bhargava said, "Ciaz is not really the premium segment. It is like the Honda City segment. It is the same segment in which we had the Baleno and SX4. So, this car is another offering in that segment. We hope this car will do better in this segment than what we have achieved in the past."
He further added that in the festival season one can see growth of 20-25 percent over the non-festive season. Bhargava is hopful that the growth pattern this year will be similar to the past and will be sustained. The global launch of Ciaz is planned during the forthcoming festival season.
Sharing his outlook on the Indian automobile sector, he said though there is some small growth in the sector as a whole, but many companies haven't been able to grow yet. "I think it is too early to say that there is growth across the board in the automobile sector. Some companies are doing better than others; that is all I can say," he added.
When asked about car segments that will drive growth going ahead, he said, "Entry-level sector is growing better than it has done in the past and the sector above that, the B-segment is also doing better than what has been achieved. So, these are the main sectors which will drive growth for sometime to come."
Meanwhile, in August, Maruti's total sales rose 26.9 percent to 1,10,776 units as against 87,323 units in August last year. Domestic sales during the month stood at 98,304 units, an increase of 29.3 percent from 76,018 units in August of previous year. The boost in sales was mailny due to compact cars comprising Swift, Estilo, Celerio, Ritz and Dzire, which were at 46,759 units in August as against 30,512 units in the year-ago month, up 53.2 percent.
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