Maruti Suzuki has posted robust numbers in February in the compact and super compact segments even as the mini segment sales declined.
But in the executive and mid-size car market, the company shed huge volumes In though the overall passenger vehicle sales witnessed a marginal increase.
According to the data furnished by Maruti Suzuki, the company sold 1,18,949 units in February, an increase of 6.5 per cent, compared to 1,11,645 vehicles in the same month in 2011. The overall domestic sales improved marginally by 6 per cent to 1,07,653 vehicles (1,01,543).
Exports accounted for 11,296 units, a 11.8 per cent growth.
Segment-wise break up
The segment-wise break up provided by the company gives a glimpse into the changing customer preferences.
In the mini segment consisting of Mauruti 800, Alto, A-Star and WagonR models, the company sold 49,104 units (53,515 units), a 8.2 per cent decline, a clear indication that the passenger car market is shifting gears from the entry level mini segment to hatchbacks and sedans, particularly diesel variants.
The compact segment ruled by Swift, Estilo and Ritz models saw a huge jump of 31.1 per cent in sales with Maruti selling 27,899 units (21,287 units).
In terms of percentage, though, the biggest increase was witnessed in the super compact segment where it has a lone model - DZire - with Maruti selling 15,068 units compared to 9,490 - a 58.8 per cent jump.
Maruti's improved Swift and DZire models could be reasons for the volume perking up in these segments.
In the mid-size and executive class also Maruti suffered a knock. While sales of SX4 in the mid segment fell sharply by 42.5 per cent to 2,033 units (3,534 units), in the executive class, it was able to sell just 14 Kizashis (25 units), a decline of 44 per cent.
The total sales in the passenger vehicle segment was 94,118 vehicles (87,851 units), a 7.1 per cent increase.
In the utility vehicle segment, Maruti sold 230 Gypsy and Grand Vitara units (156 units). While the continued popularity of Maruti vans and also Eeco has been reaffirmed with the company selling 13,305 units (marginally down from 13,536 units).
Though the overall market was weak, Maruti’s shares witnessed a sharp jump of Rs 54.25 with the scrip trading at Rs 1,310.50 in the BSE at about 11.35 a.m.