Maruti Suzuki reports 9% decline in wholesales at 1,39,347 units in December

Maruti Suzuki India has reported a 9 per cent decline in total wholesales at 1,39,347 units in December of 2022 as compared to the year-ago month. The company had clocked a total sales of 1,53,149 units in the same month in 2021. The company's total domestic wholesales stood at 1,13,535 units last month as compared to 1,26,031 units in December of 2021, seeing a downfall of 9.91 per cent.

Sales of Maruti's mini cars comprising Alto and S-Presso were lower at 9,765 units as compared to 16,320 units in the year-ago month, whereas sales of its compact cars consisting of models such as Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, Tour S and WagonR were lower at 57,502 units as against 69,345 units in December of 2021.

The company's utility vehicles such as Brezza, Ertiga, S-Cross, XL6 and Grand Vitara clocked higher sales last month at 33,008 units as against 26,982 units in the year-ago period. The shortage of electronic components had some impact on the production of vehicles, mainly in domestic models. The company said that it took all possible measures to minimise the impact.

In a separate development, Maruti Suzuki has become the latest carmaker to make its presence felt online and has joined the Metaverse platform with its new ArenaVerse virtual showroom. The new virtual platform aims to make the brand more immersive and interactive with customers. The ArenaVerse will be rolled out at the company’s Arena dealerships starting tomorrow in the new year. The automaker retails the Alto K10, Swift, Dzire, Brezza, Ertiga and more from the Arena dealerships.

This will be the brand's second online sales platform after the NexaVerse was introduced earlier this year. Maruti Suzuki says customers will be able to digitally interact with sales representatives and configure cars as per their needs in ArenaVerse.