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With the launch of its new hatchback (which would be based on the A-Star concept) just two months away from now, Maruti Suzuki is preparing to boost sales in the domestic market and also increasing its focus on exports. Maruti hopes to be exporting 200,000 cars per annum by 2010-11.

‘We had exported about 53,000 cars in 2007-08, and that was the highest ever so far. Now, we have set the target to export 200,000 cars annually by 2010-11. We see major sales coming from A-Star, which will be manufactured exclusively by Maruti for Suzuki Motors Corporation’s (SMC) global markets. It will mainly be exported to Europe and other markets. Maruti wants to become SMC’s exclusive base to manufacture small cars for its global markets,’ says Shinzo Nakanishi, MD, Maruti Suzuki India.

In the meanwhile, there are reports of Maruti having to deal with a large backlog of bookings for its compact sedan, the Swift Dzire . Since the car was launched in March this year, Maruti has delivered 22,000 units of the Dzire, while a backlog of more than 20,000 bookings remains to be served.