Maruti Suzuki to Hike Prices This Month After Sales Drop in July

Shares of Maruti Suzuk fell as much as 2.3 percent to Rs 9,301.40 a piece after the sales numbers were announced.

Maruti Suzuki Swift on display at the Geneva Motor Show 2017.

(Photo: The Quint)

Sales of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd declined for the first time in 19 months in July on weak demand for its Alto and WagonR models.

The country’s largest automaker sold 1.64 lakh units last month, a decline of 0.6 percent from the year-ago period, according to its exchange filing.

Maruti sold only 48 units of its most premium offering, the Ciaz, in July as buyers await the new variant with additional features to come to the showrooms. Sales of mini cars such as the Alto and the WagonR also fell 10.9 percent year-on-year to 37,710 units during the period.

The new Swift and the sustained demand for the premium hatchback, Baleno, drove the sales of the compact segment by more than 17 percent last month to 74,373 units. This also includes sales of the Celerio and the Ignis.

Exports Slumped

Maruti’s exports in July fell 9.9 percent from the last year to 10,219 units. That compares with 0.1 percent growth in domestic sales at 1.54 lakh units.

Other Key Highlights

Sales, Year-On-Year

• Sales in the utility vehicles segment fell 4.9 percent to 24,505 units.
• Van sales rose 0.5 percent to 15,791 units.

Price Hike

The company is planning to increase prices across various models from August after its net profit was impacted by higher commodity prices and currency fluctuations, it said in a separation exchange filing.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki, the second-worst performer on the Sensex, fell as much as 2.3 percent to Rs 9,301.40 apiece after the sales numbers were announced.

(This story was originally published on BloombergQuint.)