Maruti's domestic sales crash by 25% in May, decline for third straight month

NEW DELHI: The hammering for the country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, continues. With demand for passenger vehicles remaining weak, Maruti registered a sharp 25% decline in volumes in May, one of its steepest fall in many years.

This is the third straight month of decline for Maruti that saw volumes go down by 20% in April and one per cent in March.

Maruti, which has spoken about weak consumer sentiment amidst economic uncertainty and tighter liquidity, said that total domestic sales in May stood at 1.2 lakh units against 1.6 lakh units in May last year.

Alarmingly for the company, sales fell across its product categories, including small cars, sedans and SUVs.

Maruti chairman RC Bhargava said recently that demand for new vehicles will remain uncertain this year as the industry prepares for rolling out new, stricter emissions norms (BS6) from April next year. Also, the company has said that it will move out from smaller diesel engines from next year, an announcement that may see people avoiding its diesel vehicles such as Brezza mini SUV or hatchbacks like Swift.

Maruti has been cutting production in view of the decline in sales numbers, and did not produce car for one full day in May as part of an unscheduled off-day.