Maruti Suzuki records decline in monthly sales. Ciaz performs poorly

In its monthly sales report that was released on Wednesday, India's leading car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki reported that its sales were down by 0.6 percent compared to last year. 

In July this year, the company had a total sales of 164,369 vehicles which were 977 cars less than 2017 when the company sold 165,346 vehicles. 

Amid this, the biggest drop in sales suffered by the company was accounted for the poor performance of its flagship sub-4 meter sedan Ciaz. In July alone, the car saw a drop in sales of 99.2 percent. Sporting a vast difference from the 2017 sales figures which witnessed the sales of 6377 models, the year 2018 recorded a sale of merely 48 units. 

The decline, however, could be justified due to the upcoming launch of the facelifted version of the sedan which is soon to be scheduled to be launched this month in India. 

The company also witnessed a drop in the sales of domestic passenger vehicles as the company, this year, sold 152427 vehicles compared 153298 vehicles in the previous year. However, on the brighter side, Maruti Suzuki's only commercial vehicle, the Super Carry witnessed a sales growth of 145.1 percent to 1723 units compared to the 703 units that were sold last year. 

The company, however, said that 'Domestic sales growth in July 2018 may be seen in the context of high wholesales in July 2017'. The collaborative company's passenger cars sales include its mini compact and mid-size sedans and hatchbacks. This segment, however, saw a combined marginal growth of 0.3 percent with a sale of 112,131 vehicles against the 111,803 models that were sold in the previous year. Utility vehicles by the manufacturer which includes the Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross, and Vitara Brezza, saw a sales drop of almost 5 percent to 24,505, compared to 25,781 that were sold in 2017.

The report comes a few days before the company is expected to launch the facelifted Ciaz. Some of the Nexa showrooms across the country have reportedly already started pre-bookings for the car for an amount of Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000. Some of the new features that the new version of the sedan would be an integrated headlamp and sportier creases on the body. The grill is expected to be thinner and more subtle. The car will sport the 1.5-litre petrol engine that it would share with Indonesian spec of Ertiga. The engine will deliver 102 bhp of power and 138 Mn of torque which would be 13 hp and 8 Nm more than the outgoing model. The 1.3-litre diesel engine will, however, be carried forward