Maruti Suzuki sales down 53 pc in October

New Delhi: The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday reported a 53.25 per cent fall in sales in October to 55,595 units due to labour unrest at its Manesar plant, which severely affected production.

The company had sold 1,18,908 units in the same month last year, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

"The labour unrest at company's Manesar plant during October, 2011, adversely impacted the production and sales numbers. The company lost production of over 40,000 units (Gurgaon and Manesar) in the month," it added.

The Manesar facility rolls out MSI's high volume compact car Swift, which currently has undelivered booking orders for about one lakh units. The plant also produces hatchback A-Star and sedan SX4.

The simultaneous strike at Suzuki Powertrain, which makes engines and transmissions, in support of MSI's Manesar plant's workers, affected production at the Gurgaon facility also.

The national capital-based company recorded sales of 51,458 units in the domestic market last month, a 52.16 per cent fall from 1,07,555 units in October, 2010.

In a similar fashion, MSI's exports decreased by 63.56 per cent in October to 4,137 units from 11,353 units in the year-ago period, the company added.

Total passenger car sales in the domestic market dipped by 55.11 per cent to 41,192 units in October from 91,754 units in the same month of 2010, it added.

Sales of the company's mini-segment cars, including the M800, A-Star, Alto and WagonR model, fell by 54.86 per cent to 25,009 units from 55,404 units in October, 2010.

In the compact segment (comprising the Estilo, Swift and Ritz models), MSI witnessed a 56.09 per cent dip in sales to 10,859 units from 24,729 units in the same month a year ago.

Sales of MSI's DZiRE model decreased by 48.14 per cent to 5,001 units from 9,644 units in the corresponding period a year ago.

In addition, MSI's mid-sized sedan SX4's sales slipped by 83.81 per cent to 320 units from 1,977 units in the year-ago month. Luxury sedan Kizashi witnessed sales of three units.