New Delhi: The country's largest carmaker
Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday said its flagship export model,
A-Star, has crossed one lakh-mark of overseas shipments in
less than a year of selling the car in the global markets.
The company said the milestone was crossed with a batch
of shipment leaving the Mundra Port today. It further added
that A-Star's green label has been a success in Europe.
MSI had launched A-Star in November last year in India
and started exporting it since January this year.
A-Star is currently exported to 69 countries and is sold
as Suzuki Alto in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New
Zealand.
Europe alone accounted for 93,562 units of the export,
MSI said adding, it is sold in 19 European countries,
including UK, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy and France.
As part of expansion in export markets, the company
would target the east European countries in the second phase.
Besides Europe, some of the other major markets for
A-star, which is produced only in the company's Manesar
facility, are Chile, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria
and UAE, where it is sold as Suzuki Celerio.
Japanese car major Nissan also sells A-Star in the
European market under a contract manufacturing agreement with
MSI's parent Suzuki. Nissan sells the model as Pixo.
During April-November period this fiscal, the company has
exported a total of 91,731 units, whereas it was 70,023 units
during the entire last fiscal year, Maruti Suzuki India said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009, 20:34