Maruti Suzuki Sales Surge 21% in December, Exports Up Three-fold

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki posted 20.8 percent increase in sales in December, ending 2014 with a bang.

The company sold 1,09,791 units in December 2014 as against 90,924 units in December 2013.

Its super compact Dzire Tour sales were up by 101.4 percent in December 2014 at 1,676 units, as against 832 units in December 2013.

The compact car segment recorded 23 percent increase in December at 41,532 units, up from 33,766 units in December 2013.

However, its mini-passenger segment, which includes M800, Alto, A-Star and Wagon R saw a decline of 9.6 percent last month at 34,625 units compared to 38,286 units sold in December 2013.

While the utility vehicles - Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga – also witnessed a surge in sales by 12.2 percent at 5,774 in December 2014, up from 5146 units, sales of the Omni and Eeco vans rose to 10,771 compared to 8,312 units in December 2013, a growth of 29.6 percent.

Maruti's latest offering in the sedan segment Ciaz, which replaced SX4 ,together witnessed 1276.8 percent growth in sales in December 2014 as against 271 (only SX4) units in December 2013.

The company's exports recorded a growth of 171 percent to 11,682 units when compared to 4,311 in December 2013. After the announcement of December sales, shares of Maruti moved higher on Thursday by 0.70 percent, to ₹3,351 on the BSE.

Meanwhile, the prices of Maruti's entire car range in India has gone up from 1 January by 2 to 4%, The company raised prices to offset rising input costs.