Maruti upbeat on festive season; New Alto crosses 21k bookings

Buoyed by good response to its new Alto 800, which has touched 21,200 bookings within a week of launch, Maruti Suzuki India is looking to cash in on the ongoing festive season sales.

"So far this festive season, there has been 15 percent increase in overall bookings compared to last year. The growth is coming from across our models but the new Alto 800 has also received a very good response," Maruti Suzuki India Chief Operating Officer (Marketing & Sales) Mayank Pareek told PTI.

[caption id="attachment_500193" align="alignleft" width="380"] Agencies[/caption]

He said since its launch on October 16, the Alto 800 has received a total of 21,200 bookings. "Out of that we have retailed 7,000 units," Pareek said, adding the response was on the expected lines from both urban and rural markets.

Before the car was launched, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) had received bookings of over 10,000 units. In order to push sales further, the company had also carried out launch programmes at its showrooms to attract customers.

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"As the market was not moving, we needed a sledge-hammer approach to push sales and adopt a very customer centric approach and launch it everywhere at our showrooms," he said.

For the rural market, the company has been holding over 50 mega camps where its vehicles are displayed and customers can come and buy off the shelf.

"The purchase pattern in rural areas is different from urban market and these camps have definitely helped," he added. Last week, the company had delivered 200 units of the new Alto 800 at a single sales outlet to customers in Kottakkunnu in Mallapuram district in Kerala.

PTI