New Delhi, May 2 (IANS): Leading car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki Monday said its sales in April grew at a slow 4.4 percent and stood at 97,155 units, compared to 93,058 vehicles sold in the corresponding period of 2010.

Domestic sales of the company registered an 8.9 percent growth at 87,144 vehicles, up from the 80,034 units it had sold last year.

Exports of vehicles, however, dropped by a huge 23.1 percent during the month. It exported 10,011 cars in the month under review, as compared to 13,024 in April 2010.

For the whole of fiscal 2010-11, the company's sales had grown 24.8 percent to 1,271,005 units.

During April, the company's A2 segment of cars, comprising models like Alto, Wagon-R, Estilo, Swift, A-Star and Ritz, saw sales rise by a modest 1.8 percent to 57,443 units.

Sales in the multi-utility vehicle segment also dropped 69.5 percent, which stood at 217 vehicles, compared to 712 units in the like month of last year.

In the van-type vehicle segment, consisting of Omni and Eeco, sales rose 22.2 percent to 13,899 units, compared to the 10,654 units sold in April 2010.

The company managed to sell 35 units of its newly-launched premium sedan Kizashi in the month under review.

At the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Maruti Suzuki scrip was trading 2.29 percent down at Rs.1,289.50.