Bangalore: Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) has increased its market share in domestic car market by 3.5 per cent to 55 per cent in April-June 2003, compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, its managing director Jagdish Khattar said on July 16.

While the car industry grew by 28 per cent in Q1 of 2003-04, Maruti grew by 37 per cent during the period, he told reporters after the carmaker signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with State Bank of Mysore (SBM) on offering car financing in Karnataka.

Khattar said Maruti had already entered into an alliance on car finance with State Bank of India and State Bank Patiala and would do so with State Bank of Indore and State Bank of Hyderabad in the next few days.

Highlighting the importance of car financing, he said the share of car financing in percentage of sales by the car industry in India had gone up from 50 per cent five years ago to 75 per cent now.

SBM's managing director M Sitarama Murthy said the alliance would be mutually beneficial and would give a "big push" to car sales in Karnataka. SBM would offer loans for Maruti vehicles on 10.25 per cent interest with a repayment period of seven years.

MUL's director (marketing and sales), Kinji Saito, said the company exported 32,000 vehicles, including 24,000 units of Alto during 2002-03, and it was now eying a figure of 39,000 to 40,000 during the current fiscal.

PTI