Maruti Suzuki sales hit speed-bump in April; Ciaz drops 45%

India's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday reported a 19.6 per cent decline in the sales of its passenger vehicles for April 2019. The carmaker sold 133,704 units of passenger vehicles in April 2019 against 164,978 units in the same month last year. This also included units sold to Toyota in reference to the alliance. 364 units of the Baleno premium hatchback were supplied to Toyota in April. The company has reported a decline of 39.8 per cent in the entry level segment alone, selling 22,766 units of the Alto 800 and previous generation Wagon R against a base of 37,794 units.

The compact vehicle segment which includes new-generation Wagon R, Alto K10, Swift, Ignis, Baleno, Celerio, Dzire and the TourS also witnessed a decline of 13.9 per cent selling 72,146 units against a base of 83, 834 units, sold in the same period last year. The sales of its mid-size sedan, the Ciaz took a heavy dip of 45.5 per cent selling 2789 units against 5116 units which were sold in the corresponding month last year.

The total sales, including both domestic as well as exports, went down by 17.2 per cent to 143,245 units.

However, the utility vehicle and commercial vehicle segments showed positive growth. The utility vehicle segment, driven by Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza, grew 5.9 per cent selling 22,035 units against a base of 20,804 units. But, the vans saw a negative growth of 26.7 per cent at 11,649 units as compared to 15,886 units sold in the same month last year. 

In the commercial vehicle segment, Maruti Suzuki sold 2319 units of the Super Carry Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) against a base of 1544 units. This was a 50.2 per cent growth since last year. The total domestic sales (Passenger Vehicles + Commercial Vehicles + Toyota) witnessed a decline of 18.7 per cent selling 134,068 units against a base of 164,978 units.

Meanwhile, the company had introduced its multi-purpose vehicle Ertiga with new in-house 1.5 litre diesel engine on Tuesday. It has been priced between Rs 9.86 lakh and Rs 11.20 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The model is currently powered by 1.3 litre diesel powertrain sourced from Fiat. The three trims of the vehicle with 1.5 litre diesel engine are priced at Rs 9.86 lakh, 10.69 lakh and Rs 11.20 lakh. "Considering the requirements of evolving customers, the Next Gen Ertiga is now offered with new 1.5-litre diesel engine," MSI Senior Executive Director, Marketing and Sales RS Kalsi said in a statement.

Maruti is confident that this new engine option will strengthen the popularity of Ertiga in urban MPV segment.