Swift order over 1 lakh, Maruti upbeat despite Manesar issue

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Undeterred by ongoing stand-off with its workers at the Manesar plant, Maruti Suzuki India expressed confidence that production constraints will have no impact on supplies for the festive season sales.

The company, which has so far received bookings of 1.08 lakh units for its new Swift, also said it is all poised to normalise supply of the model after being affected by the labour issue at the plant.

"The demand for Swift is huge. It is the supply side which we had a problem in the first part of this month, but that is gradually coming to normal levels," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) managing executive officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek told PTI.

Asked if the supply constraints could hamper festive season sales, he said, "Not at all. The only issue was with Swift, which is produced from Manesar. We are now producing around 700 units a day."

He said the company could soon reach the planned target of selling around 17,000-18,000 units a month of the new Swift as against 12,000 units with the previous version.

Since its launch on August 17, the new Swift has received bookings for 1.08 lakh units so far, MSI said.

At present, the diesel Swift has a waiting period of six months while that of the petrol variant is between three to five months.

Pareek said the company expects good sales during the festive season, although the market sentiment is not too encouraging at the moment.

"The challenge is more with the sentiment rather than the macro-economic issues. However, the festive season provides another opportunity to bring the cheers," he said.

In order to woo customers, MSI is also providing discounts, which is about 20 per cent higher than what it had offered in the festive season last year, he said but did not provide the exact details.

High interest rates and petrol prices had hit the auto industry and for two consecutive months in July and August, car sales in India had declined compared to the year-ago period.

When asked if the prolonged production cuts this year due to a 13-day-long strike in June and the current impasse at the Manesar plant would drastically impact the company's overall sales for this fiscal, Pareek said it is premature to comment.

"While a lot would depend on the festive season sales, we still have half-a-year to go for the fiscal. It is too early to say," he said.

With the auto industry going on a downhill drive, MSI had stated that its volumes sales growth would be in single digits this fiscal as against 24.81 per cent last fiscal to touch 12,71,005 units.