Maruti Suzuki's Ritz comes out with an edge over the other cars in the upper A2 segment of compact cars in terms of first year sales figures.

Ritz which was launched in May 2009 has sold 68,130 units till April 2010.

The upper A2 segment comprises of cars like - the Hyundai i-20, Fiat Punto, Skoda Fabia, Honda Jazz, Chevrolet Beat and the newly launched Ford Figo and Volkswagen Polo. Nissan's Micra and Toyota's Etios will soon join this segment.

While other cars in this segment like - the Hyundai i-20 sold 31,318 units during December 2008 and November 2009, Skoda Fabia sold 7,383 units during January to December 2008, the Honda Jazz sold 7,850 units in the first eleven months between June 2009 and April 2010.

Prior to that the Maruti's Swift, was the highest selling car in the segment selling over 1.1 lakh units per annum for the past 2 years. Since its launch around 5 years ago, Swift has sold 4.5 lakh units. It had managed to sell around 57,738 units in its first year (May 2005 - April 2006).

Besides, Maruti has started exporting the Ritz that comes in both petrol and diesel variants.

Maruti is the market leader in the upper A2 segment with its Swift and Ritz, with a market share of around 80 %. The company currently has 60 % market share in the entire A2 segment.

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki India is eyeing to launch a new version of Alto with 1000cc K-series engine.

The new version of Alto will come with a one-litre petrol engine from its latest generation of K-series engine.

At present, Alto is the best selling car model in India, averaging about 20,000 units per month. Since its launch in September 2000, about 13.5 lakh units of Alto were sold.

Maruti Suzuki offers 2 variants of the K-series engines - 998cc three-cylinder, 'K10B' fitted in A-star, Estilo, and the new WagonR and a 1.2-litre, four-cylinder 'K12M' petrol engine powering Ritz, Swift and Swift Dzire.

In April 2010, MSI has crossed the milestone of rolling out 3 lakh K-Series engines. The company has a total engine capacity of 10 lakh units per annum, of which the share of K-Series engines is 2.5 lakh units.

Maruti Suzuki India had reported more than a two-fold surge in its consolidated net profit at Rs. 2624.64 crore for the financial year ending 31st march 2010. Its consolidated total income from operations during the financial year raised by 42.27 % to Rs. 30,122.51 crore.

Maruti Suzuki India, was the first carmaker in India to sell more than a million units in a single financial year. The company has sold a total of 10,18,365 units in the last financial year, including sales from its exports, which is up by 28.55 % as against the previous financial year.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. is a publicly listed automaker in India. It is a leading four-wheeler automobile manufacturer in South Asia. Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan holds a majority stake in the company. It was the first company in India to mass-produce and sell more than a million cars.