Maruti to export 35,000 A-Stars to Nissan

Maruti Suzuki said on Thursday that it would export at least 35,000 units of the A-Star compact car to Nissan in Europe in 2010-11. This is after the company recently recalled more than one lakh units of the car due to a fuel tank problem.

The company has a three year export contract with Nissan, which sells the A-star badged as the ‘Pixo' in Europe. In the first year of the contract, the company has exported close to 50,000 units to Nissan, due to the high demand in Europe, following the scrappage incentive.s .

“We have a three-year contract with Nissan, under which we have already exported 50,000 units in 2009-10 . In 2010-11, we expect to export 35,000 units, which is the minimum quantity. It may be higher as per the demand. The total contractis for around 1,05,000 units ,” Mr R.C. Bhargava, its Chairman, told Business Line.

Nissan sells the Pixo in mostly the same European markets where Suzuki sells the A-Star - branded as ‘Alto'. According to Mr Bhargava, both cars are essentially the same, except for minor cosmetic changes and the badging.

In February this year, the company had admitted that from December onwards it had recalled more than one lakh units of the A-Star due to problems in the fuel tank gasket and O-ring. The recalls also affected 35,000 units sent to Nissan in 2009-10. However, the minor problem does not seem to have affected the popularity of the car.