Maruti Suzuki Falls on Lower-Than-Expected August Sales

Maruti Suzuki shares fell as much as 2.9 per cent to hit intraday low of Rs 4,048.15 after the carmaker reported lower-than-expected sales in the month of August.

Maruti Suzuki sold 1.17 lakh units in the month of August. Analysts polled by NDTV had expected Maruti Suzuki to sell 1.21 Lakh cars in August.

Meanwhile, out of 1.17 lakh cars sold by Maruti Suzuki, it exported 11,083 cars. On an annual basis, Maruti's car sales jumped 6.4 per cent in August. It had sold 1,10,776 cars during August 2014.

Nitesh Sharma, of Phillip Capital (India) in a note said, "New launches (S-Cross & Ciaz) and increased first-time buyers aided domestic growth despite high base."

However, sales were lower than expectations for S-Cross, he adds. 

"Maruti remains our top pick to play a recovery in Indian automotive as: the company is in the midst of a best model cycle, strong new products pipeline, recovery in urban demand, slow and steady decline in discounts, robust margin expansion and market share wins," Mr Sharma said. 

Shares in Maruti Suzuki ended 2.6 per cent lower at Rs 4,058.