Iconic M 800 losing edge as sales plummet 50 pc

NEW DELHI: The iconic M 800 seems to be losing its grip on the Indian market. The small car, once the largest selling car in India seems to be facing rough weather as sales have slipped almost 50 per cent in September 2010 as compared to the corresponding month last year. The company only sold 1603 units as compared to 3207 units sold last year in September. But what seems to be heartening for the company is that its other very affordable products like the Omni, Versa and Eeco have reaped huge orders. The three together have sold almost 70 per cent more in the month as compared to the previous period month. The Eeco was launched in January 2010. Over the car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Limited sold a total of 1,08,006 vehicles in September 2010. This includes 12,858 units for export. This is the highest ever total monthly sales by the company. Previous highest was 1,04,971 units in August 2010. The company had sold a total of 83,306 vehicles in September 2009. September 2010 is also the fourth time that company’s monthly sales crossed 1 lakh mark. With these record numbers, the company crossed half a million sales mark in the first six months of a fiscal. Maruti Suzuki’s volume in the domestic market grew by 32.9 per cent. In the A2 segment, sales grew by 31.3 per cent while in A3 segment sales were 43.2 per cent higher, as compared to sales in September 2009. The sales growth in the C segment was 66.6 per cent over September 2009. The sales growth in B segment was 17.7% over September 2009.