DCM strike hits Maruti sales in Ahmedabad

The strike has hit production at the MUL's Gurgaon plant. "Sales have slipped to 30 per cent due to non-availability of models," says Ravi Puri, general manager, Cargo Motors (Gujarat), the largest Maruti dealer in the state.

While the company has 25 customers in its wait-list for WagoneR, the company is also witnessing shortage of the Baleno model.

Apart from non-availability of models, Gujaratis are not buying cars during the unholy period of 'Shrad', which will continue till September 26, Ravi said.

Rajendra Pal, general manager of Kiran Motors, another leading Maruti dealer in the state based in Ahmedabad, which sells more than 400 Maruti cars, says that sales of Maruti cars have declined by 15 per cent month-to-month.

An executive working at a direct sales associate of Standard Chartered Bank said, "We thought that September and October will be good months for us as more and more people buy cars during these two festive months. However, as customers are on wait-list, we are little disappointed. Hope the strike is over at DCM Engineering and MUL picks up production fast as it is the highest selling small car in the country. Also, Gujarat contributes a large chunk of the total Maruti sales in India."