NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), the country's largest car maker, on Wednesday reported 17.2 per cent decline in total sales for the month of April 2019. The marker sold 1,43,245 units in April 2019 as
against 1,72,986 units sold in April last year.
Domestic sales of MSIL registered a bigger decline of 18.7 per cent to 1,34,068 units in April 2019 as against 1,64,978 units in the April 2018. However Maruti's exports saw an increase of 1,169
units marking a growth of 14.6 per cent over April 2018.
Segment wise, mini and compact car segment recorded a fall of over 40 per cent in sales to 22,766 units in April 2019 as compared to 37,794 units in April last year.
Sales of compact segment where the carmaker has been registering impressive growthwere down 13.9 per cent at 72,146units as against 83,834 units in April last year. Further, its mid-size sedan Ciaz
recorded a steep fall of 45.5 per cent to 2,789 units as compared to 5,116 units in the same month a year ago.
MSIL, which commands half of the PV market in India, has recently announced to stopselling diesel cars from April 1, 2020, when the new BS VI fuel economy norms kick in, a move that MIGHT significantly impact its sales in the coming year.
"We will stop selling all our diesel cars from April next year as the new fueleconomy norms will make diesel cars significantly more expensive. Especially, for small cars with the engine size of
less than 1.5 litres, the price willbecome unviable for customers," said R C Bhargava, Chairman, MSIL.
Bhargava has also said that factors like the US embargo on Iranian crude imports and new emission norms may impactauto sales even after general elections.