Car market leader Maruti Suzuki sold 764,842 vehicles in 2007-08, the highest ever in the history of the company. This marked a growth of 13.3 per cent over the previous year.

The company's sales included exports of 53,024 during 2007-08, the highest ever in the company¿s history. Exports grew by 34.9 per cent during the year.

While strengthening its leadership in the A2 segment, Maruti Suzuki also attained leadership in the A3 segment for the year 2007-08. The company sold 49,335 cars in the A3 segment, a whopping growth of 66.1 per cent over the previous year.

Following are some of the other performance highlights of 2007-08, the best year ever for the company so far:

• Concept A-Star, created by a team of designers from Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Motor Corporation, was unveiled to the world at Auto Expo, New Delhi.

• The number of engineers in Maruti Suzuki R&D went up from 269 to 430 during the year.

• The number of Maruti Driving Schools across the country more than doubled to 34.

• Alto strengthened its position as India's top selling car, clocking volumes of 227,173 units during the year. This is the second consecutive year in which Alto sales crossed the 2 lakh mark.

• Maruti Suzuki was rated first in customer satisfaction for the eighth year in a row in the annual survey conducted by J D Power Asia Pacific.

• In line with its ambitious export plan for the medium term, Maruti Suzuki tied up with the Adani Group for a mega car terminal at Mundra Port. The terminal would be operational by year end.

• The company launched SX4, Grand Vitara and DZire during the year, making it seven new models in three years.

• Among the accolades was the Nikkei "Monozukuri" Award for the Manesar Plant for its technological advance and quality control, the World Environment Foundation's Golden Peacock Award for excellence in environment management, performance and quality awards for products and several Manufacturer of the Year awards instituted by automobile expert groups and media houses.

The highlight in March has been the early success of the company's latest model, DZire, which was launched on March 26, 2008. The company sold 5,658 units of DZire during the month.

This, however, is not an indication that monthly sales of DZire will be maintained at this level. Like with all new models, the initial sales dispatches are higher than normal as they include cars for customer test drives and for display at showrooms. Besides, the novelty factor also contributes to higher than usual sales in the initial days.

The company sold 64,421 units in the domestic market during March 2008.

Having already attained export targets for the year in time, the company's exports for March 2008 show a drop over the high base of March 2007.

The sales figures for the full year 2007-08 and for March 2008 are given below: