Maruti Suzuki has axed two small cars, the A Star and Estilo, from its domestic market range.
The company told the Hindustan Times it had stopped production of the two cars, and the decision was taken after the launch of the new Celerio earlier this month, with an affordable automatic transmission option, which is expected to fill the void left by the two cars.
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The A Star – known as the Alto in other markets – was sold for only five years, a relatively short lifespan by Maruti standards – it recently also axed the 800 which was a 30 year old design.
Nissan Europe marketed a variant called the Pixo but, after good demand in the first few years, sales tapered off and Nissan does not buy the car from Maruti any more, the report noted.
In the domestic market, both A Star and Estilo cars were relative underperformers, and increased competition in recent years hit their fortunes. Sales of the A Star fell by 41.5% to 7113 units in 2013.
