Maruti Suzuki's April sales decline 11%

Sales of mini-segment cars down 25%; compact segment posts 10% growth

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest carmaker, today reported 11.4% decline in total sales in April to 86,196 units, against 97,302 units in the same month last year.

The company said its domestic sales declined by 12.6% during the month to 79,119 units as against 90,523 units in April 2013.

Sales of mini segment cars, including M 800, Alto, A-Star and Wagon R, declined 25.4% to 26,043 units as against 34,927 units in the year-ago month, MSI said in a statement.

The company said sales of the compact segment, comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, rose 9.9% to 23,659 units in April this year as against 21,535 units last year.

MSI said sales of its popular compact sedan Dzire declined 17.7% during the month under review to 16,008 units as against 19,446 units in April 2013.

Mid-sized sedan SX4 registered a decline of 87.4% to 76 units as against 601 units in the same month last year. There was no sale of premium sedan Kizashi during the month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, declined 5.8% to 5,011 units in April this year from 5,318 units in the corresponding month last year.

Sales of vans -- Omni and Eeco -- declined 4.3% to 8,322 units in April this year from 8,696 units in the corresponding period.

Exports during the month rose 4.4% to 7,077 units as compared to 6,779 units in April last year, MSI said.