MARUTI SUZUKI = UPDATE DT SEP,1ST,2010 = DEMAND SURGE = SELLS MORE IN 2010 (VS 2009) = PLANS HUGE INCREASE IN PRODUCTION

MARUTI SUZUKI

LATEST UPDATE

AS ON 1^ST,SEPTEMBER 2010

Maruti Suzuki India Limited, India's car market leader, sold a total of 104,791 vehicles in August 2010, growing 23.6 per cent in the month. This includes exports of 12,117units. This is the highest ever monthly sales recorded by the company.

The company had sold a total of 84,808 vehicles in August 2009.

Maruti Suzuki's volume in the domestic A2 segment grew by 25.7 per cent and in the A3 segment the sales volume grew by 34 per cent during the month as compared to sales in August 2009.

During the month the company launched Alto-K10 with 1-litre K-series engine and five CNG models across segments. Customers ranked Maruti Suzuki as the No.1 company in the annual Sales Satisfaction Survey conducted independently by JD Power, a leading global research agency.

Segment	Models	In August			Till August			FY2010
		2010	2009	% Ch	2010-11	2009-10	% Ch
A1	M800	1919	2734	-29.80%	10505	12649	-16.90%	33028
C	Omni, versa,  Eeco*	14157	6601	114.50%	61295	36136	69.60%	101325
A2	Alto, A-Star,  Wagon-R, Ritz, Estilo, Swift	65953	52473	25.70%	300545	247321	21.50%	633190
A3	SX4, D'zire	10479	7821	34.00%	49789	36869	35.00%	99315
Total Passenger Cars		92508	69629	32.90%	422134	332975	26.80%	866858
MUV	Gypsy, Grand Vitara	166	332	-50.00%	3541	1929	83.60%	3932
Domestic		92674	69961	32.50%	425675	334904	27.10%	870790
Export		12117	14847	-18.40%	63297	54707	15.70%	147575
Total Sales		104791	84808	23.60%	488972	389611	25.50%	1018365

As per a report dated 27^th August,2010, Maruti is trying hard at its mega plants for increasing production at its existing plants by 20 percent in current year..

There is an unexpected surge in demand for Eeco and Swift models. Maruti is seeing a 30% rise in demand for EICO etc.

Half its 7,000-strong workforce is going through multi-skill training so that they can assemble three to four different models of cars, rather than specialise in only one.

Maruti is investing Rs 1,700 crore to set up a third production Unit at Manesar to add an annual capacity of 2.5 lakh units to its capacity.

Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava  has said: "We are preparing a project report for the third unit in Manesar, which will come up for discussion before the board. The unit is proposed to have a capacity of 2.5 lakh units annually."

The company's Manesar plant has annual production capacity of 3 lakh units, while the Gurgaon plant produces 7 lakh units per annum.

According to another report in August,2010, Maruti is working towards achieving full-body capability in manufacturing vehicles. It wants to design and develop its models on its own.

R C Bhargava, chairman said, “We need to rapidly develop our own capacity to develop and design products. This is an area of priority for us and with the help of Suzuki, we are investing heavily in research and development.”

The company has acquired over 700 acres in Rohtak to set up a world-class research and development (R&D) centre.

 MSIL has also announced that will restrict exports to 15 per cent of the total units produced this financial year for meeting  the growing demand in domestic market and improve its domestic market share.

 “Maruti Suzuki, as a company, should perhaps deliberately not attempt to export a large part of its production, but keep exports at about 15 per cent of output,” Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R C Bhargava wrote to shareholders in its annual report for the year 2009-10.

MSI currently has two plants, at Gurgaon and Manesar, which have a combined capacity of one million units annually.

In another report in August,2010, R C Bhargava, chairman of MSIL, said, “Our cost of manufacturing is low. We are open to manufacturing cars for other players, which can be modified and sold under a different badge. The look of the final product should be distinct from the models sold by our company.”

Though such arrangements have the potential to contribute to the volume of the company, they do not often assure a steady stream of revenue, according to Bhargava. “The European market boosted the sale of small cars last year. This year, however, we would be far from delivering the same number of units to Nissan.”

As per the SIAM data, MSIL enjoyed a market share of 47.94 per cent in the cars segment in July, compared to 52.15 per cent in the same month last year. It sold 76,111 cars last month against an industry total of 1,58,764 units.

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