Maruti Suzuki alto sales decline 54percent in August; lowest in 15 years.

India's largest selling car for 15 straight years, which is also its bestselling car historically, witnessed a steep 54.5 percent fall in sales in August 2019 at just 10,123 units. This was Alto's lowest tally in a month since April 2004 when 9,350 units were dispatched to the dealers.

However, following that, it had become the country's best selling car for the first time in a month in May 2004 when its tally stood at 10,373 units against the then bestseller Maruti 800's 10,016 units. It was also the first fiscal (2003-04) when Alto went on to end Maruti 800's nearly two decade long hold at the top. It is a position it hasn't relinquished till date.

The crash in sales in August has seen Alto lose four slots to stablemates Dzire, Swift, WagonR and Baleno and drop down to number 5 in the bestseller's list for the month, another low since 2001. It is symptomatic of the consumer's shift...