Maruti Suzuki India Ltd forecast a weak rate of growth for the current fiscal year amid an industry-wide weakening of demand, sending the carmaker's shares down as much as 2 per cent.The country's biggest automaker, majority owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said it expected production and sales to grow between 4 per cent and 8 per cent for the financial year started in April.
Last year, the company targeted a 10 per cent rate of growth for sales.Growing use of app-based cab services such as Ola and Uber Technologies Inc, tighter credit and market uncertainty ahead of general elections have all weighed on the auto industry, hurting sales of private cars.For the fourth quarter, Maruti posted a net profit that beat market expectations as cost-cuts helped offset industry-wide challenges.However, net profit fell 4.6 per cent to Rs 1,796 crore ($256.10 million) from a year earlier and the carmaker said it sold 458,479 vehicles in the three months ended March 31, down 0.7 per cent.The result compared with the Rs 1,747 crore average of 22 analysts' estimates compiled by Refinitiv Eikon.The New Delhi-based automaker helped raise car ownership in India nearly four decades ago with its iconic Maruti 800 model.
It has since launched a range of vehicles including the Baleno and Alto hatchbacks and the S-Cross sport utility vehicle (SUV).Total revenue from operations rose 1.4 per cent to Rs 21,459 crore.Maruti Suzuki shares were trading 1.5 per cent lower in intraday trade.
The shares touched a more than three-week low earlier.Get the latest election news, live updates and election schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on TheIndianSubcontinent.com/elections.
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