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Maruti seeks registration of 3 models in NCR; sales likely to rise in May

Maruti Udyog Limited today approached the Delhi Transport Authority seeking unrestricted registration of Maruti 800, Zen (both petrol and diesel) and Esteem, the cars which comply with the India Year 2000 emission norms.

The permission for registering its Omni van and Gypsy would be sought later as the company is still working towards making these vehicles Year 2000 compliant, company sources said.

Production of these new versions would commence on June 7, when MUL's Gurgaon facility reopen's after the half-yearly maintenance shutdown.

''We have already received the certificates from the Automotive Research Association of India that the Maruti 800, Zen (both petrol and diesel) and Esteem conform to the Year 2000 emission norms. These documents have been submitted to the transport authority and permission sought for unrestricted registeration of these cars in the national capital region,'' the sources added.

Regarding Omni and Gypsy, the sources said, ''We are not in a hurry with these models as we have ample time with us. Besides, demand for these vehicles is also not too high at present. But, by the first week of June, we expect to get the certificates for these vehicles as well.''

It may be recalled that MUL has already ruled out any hike in prices of its Year 2000 compliant cars despite a Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 increase in production costs due to the modifications being incorporated.

''Keeping in view the interests of our customers and the large number of pending bookings, we have decided to absorb the entire cost ourselves,'' the company had announced.

As per the Supreme Court directive today, car manufacturers can sell and register Euro-I (read year 2000) compliant vehicles in the NCR without any restriction from June 1, 1999.

While the Esteem and Zen diesel were always Euro-i compliant, the Maruti 800 and the Zen petrol have now been made compliant and the engineering team is simultaneously working on Omni and Gypsy.

The company has already prepared contingency plans for full transition to Euro-II norms by April 1, 2000. Investments to the tune of Rs 6 billion have already been made in this regard.

Meantime, despite non-registration of its vehicles in the National Capital Region for the better part of May, Maruti Udyog Limited is confident that domestic sales of its passenger cars for the month would top 32,000 units.

Besides, production is also projected to cross a new high of 33,000 units for the month, company sources said today.

The total production figure includes Gypsy and the units earmarked for exports. The sales figure, the sources said, has been reached at by calculating the average with the total sales till date.

This would mark a 5.3 per cent increase over the sales figure of 30,372 units in April this year and a 0.83 per cent growth over May 1998 when the company sold 31,734 cars in the domestic market.

The Supreme Court order and the resultant non-registration of cars in the NCR had failed to have an impact on the company's sales figures as Maruti had stopped deliveries to dealers in the region and used these vehicles to meet the growing demand in other parts of the country.

Maruti had recorded a 30.1 per cent surge in sales of its passenger cars during April 1999 at 30,372 units as against 23,337 units during the same month last year.

Omni had led the surge in sales during the month having registered a 47.8 per cent growth. The van sales during the period stood at 6,668 units from 4,509 units a year ago.

Its world car Zen followed with a 31 per cent jump in sales to touch 5,901 during April 1999 as against 4,504 units last year while the bread-and-butter Maruti 800 sales during the period stood at 16,500 units, up 25.3 per cent from 13,165 units in March 1998.

Maruti's mid-size Esteem's sales during March 1999 stood at 1,241 units, up 9.7 per cent from 1,131 units a year ago.

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