New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS): Automobile major Maruti Suzuki is on course to become the largest car exporter from India in FY22.

The feat has been achieved after a gap of 11 years with new Baleno leading the pack.

The automaker exported 205,450 units in the calendar year 2021.

In a conversation with IANS, Maruti Suzuki India's Senior Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Shashank Srivastava said the company already shipped out almost 206,000 units to foreign markets in calendar year 2021.

"This financial year also we should be doing something like 220,000 units. Maruti is now the largest exporter of cars in India," he said.

Besides exports, the other driver for demand, according to Srivastava, will come from the high Capex announced in the Union Budget FY23.

"There is no doubt that increased Capex capital will ultimately benefit the industry."

Furthermore, the re-opening of contact intensive sectors such as education is also expected to give demand a push, he said.

"A lot of the demand should come back from the reopening of institutions across the country."

"Once the normalcy starts returning... it is expected to help us get back to the normal economy."

On the pandemic induced rise in automobile sales trend, he said that the shift to personal mobility will continue for some more time.

"When the pandemic began, it was expected that car demand will come down but it has been the opposite of that. It has done better than the expectation even with the loss of income levels and the disruption that we saw in the last two years."

"Going forward, the expectation is that the shift to personal mobility will continue for some more time. The pandemic may go away but the fear might still linger on."

In addition, the company plans to launch a slew of new as well upgraded products in the market.

It recently opened the bookings for its new generation Baleno.