In a tough year, with the odds stacked against him, Kenichi Ayukawa ensured Maruti Suzuki stayed on course and ahead of its peers

Local manufacturers to crank up alloy wheel capacity to tap a thriving market; of the annual requirement of 26 million alloy wheels in India, almost 46 per cent was imported mostly from China in FY20 due to lack of domestic supply

Maruti dispatched 147,912 units to dealerships last month against 110,454 units in September 2019; overall domestic sales was higher by 33.4% at 150,040 units

This is however the first month since the post lockdown era in March that Maruti has been able to dispatch more than 100,000 units in a month

The last time Maruti posted growth in a month was at the start of the year (January 2020) when sales grew 0.1 percent over January 2019

Maruti Suzuki India aims to sell around 1.4 to 1.5 lakh CNG units this fiscal as compared with 1.07 lakh units in 2019-20

The cars that are covered in this round of recall are manufactured between November 15, 2018 and October 15, 2019

Contrary to expectations, the numbers are significantly lower than the levels the company was operating at in February when it had sold 133,702 units

Alto's nearest rival this year was the Swift, which was less than 3,000 units behind it but also suffered a 16 per cent drop in sales; at third position was the company's premium hatchback Baleno

Maruti was one of the first companies to shift its production from BS IV to BS VI emission norms that come into effect across the country from today

Alto also witnessed a decline by almost 19 per cent but was the only car in the top 10 to clock more than 2 lakh units in the full year

There was no dearth of new launches, and while many suffered due to the adverse market conditions, a few hit the bull's eye too

Large hybrid cars do not get any incentive from the government right now but Maruti along with its partner Toyota has been lobbying behind the scenes in favour of hybrids as a suitable intermediate technology before the country is ready for EVs

Maruti has increased its vehicle manufacturing target because it is anticipating a higher demand in this fiscal's (FY20) fourth quarter owing to a rollout of more cars that are compliant with BS-VI emission norms, affordable financing options as well as strong demand for its new offerings, XL6 and S-Presso

Once considered a bad word and symbolised poor manufacturing processes, product recalls have become routine in global automotive industry as machines have become more complex

Maruti will inspect 63,493 vehicles of petrol SHVS of Ciaz, Ertiga and XL6 for a possible issue with the Motor Generator Unit. Vehicles requiring replacement of faulty part will be retained for part replacement free of cost

Swift, despite being in the pole position, saw a 13 per cent drop while Dzire and Baleno were down 16 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively

The decline in Maruti's sales just when it looked like the worst was over in October, adds to the narrative of a deepening slowdown in the overall Indian economy now inching towards a recession

Royal Enfield will upgrade the powertrain for its 350cc motorcycles instead which account for bulk of its sales. A BS VI compliant variant of 650cc Continental GT has also been spotted test riding in India

Maruti Suzuki stated that the revised ex-showroom price of the BS-VI compliant Wagon R 1 litre (petrol) variants in Delhi and NCR starts at Rs 4.42 lakh