The country’s largest car-maker, Maruti Suzuki is expecting resistance in growth in the auto sector in FY12. Factors like high interest rate, fuel hike and high inflation may tighten the situation and impact the sales in short term but we are bullish in the long run. We are buoyant and feel the total industry will grow and the total auto sector-sales volume will reach 4.5 million annually from 2.6 million at present,” said Chief General Manager (Marketing) Shashank Srivastava who was in the city to launch luxury sports sedan Kizashi.
However, he did not give any numbers, about the possible decline and resistance. He added, “The industry never expected the auto sector to grow at 30 per cent this year and 23-24 per cent last year. So therefore it is very difficult to quote any number at the moment for the coming financial year”.
On being asked about the exports, he said, “The withdrawal of scrap subsidies in Europe has caused a dip in exports currently, so we are concentrating on newer markets and consolidating our presence in the existing ones to drive exports. The company expect to close FY11 with a 1.50 lakh units in comparison to 1.47 lakh units in the previous financial year”.
He said, if the civilian unrest in Egypt continues for long, it might affect the company’s exports. For Maruti, exports to Egypt account for 3 per cent among global exports i.e about 3,500-4,000 units per annum.
In the northern region market, he said, “The region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh is a very important market for us, as it contributes 8.5 per cent of the total sales. We are selling around 10,500 units every month. Also, this market holds a very good potential for luxury car makers. So keeping in mind we are launching sports sedan Kizashi. Kizashi will be available in India in two variats: Manual Transmission and Continuous Variable Transmission.
It is worth mentioning that there is no dearth of discerning buyers for luxury cars in the region. Buoyed by the response, the luxury car makers have very high expectations from the Punjab market. Further, in order to tap the burgeoning demand, the car makers are expanding their base in the state by opening new dealerships.