This totally comes as a surprise and the new bug has beaten the Maruti Suzuki bread and butter model in April sales record. Maruti Suzuki Alto was dominating the sales charts in India from quite a long while. With a competitive price tag and Maruti’s promise of long life, the Alto was an understandable bargain for Indian customer. Launched back in 2005, the Maruti Swift has won our hearts ever since. In a sporty guise and mouthwatering price tag, the Maruti Swift became the favorite amongst youth and family. The obvious happened in April, 2012, and the company sold 19,484 units of the Swift, out beating the Alto that sold 17,842 units in the same month.
Adding to the Alto’s agony, the sales figure dropped by 49.4 percent in comparison to the March’s sales that recorded 35,245 units. The Alto has dominated the Indian market for seven consecutive years and has set records with 20,000 units a month. With the sudden shift in market towards diesel powered cars, the Alto lost its charm. While the Swift, with the capable diesel option and reasonable price tag, out beats the Alto taking the number one spot. And the numbers speak for themselves, as 80 percent of Swift booked are diesel trims.
Having said that, the Dzire, WagonR and newly launched Ertiga also come with diesel options. To come up to the rising demand in market and reducing the waiting period for these cars, Maruti has ramped up production at its facility. This could be a possible reason for drop in production of the Alto, and hence drastic sales figure.