Maruti Suzuki aims for 85 pc growth in its export revenue

At a time when global car majors like General Motors and Chrysler are floundering,Maruti Suzuki,Indias largest car maker,has targeted a Rs 3,500 crore export revenue in the financial year 2010. The companys exports volume is likely to go up by 85 per cent to 1.30 lakh units in 2009-10 from 70,023 units in 2008-09,a Maruti Suzuki official said.

The export tally includes around 19,000 units of A-star exported to Europe including United Kingdom,France,Germany,Italy,Netherlands,Denmark and Switzerland, said Shashank Srivastava,chief general manager,Maruti Suzuki. The companys exports included 70,023 units in 2008-09,up by 32.1 per cent over sales of 53,024 recorded in 2007-08. The 2008-09 export numbers,the highest ever by the company,was led by A-star,the fuel-efficient compact car launched in Europe during the year as Suzuki Alto, said Srivastava.

The company is launching its new model Ritz,which will be available in petrol and diesel variants. This will be India8217;s first BS-IV compliant car. The car is positioned in the premium A2 market segment,which includes its compact offerings such as Alto,WagonR,Swift,Zen and the newly-launched A-Star. Ritz is the eighth new model within 48 months following the launch of Swift,Zen Estilo,SX4,Swift Diesel,Grand Vitara,Swift Dzire and A-star, a company official said.

Indias annual car exports grew 54 per cent to 3.35-lakh cars in the last fiscal,registering an export revenue of 6 billion dollars. However,it is far behind several smaller countries such as Thailand 15.6 billion dollars and Brazil 20.5 billion dollars. We are still growing. It differs from countriy to country due to the operational cost and government policies, said Srivastava.