Gurgaon, March 15 : Auto major Maruti Suzuki has decided to suspend production of cars at its Gurgaon and Manesar plants Saturday, a company spokesperson said.

Amid declining sales, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL) will Saturday keep on hold production of petrol and diesel cars in all five units of its Gurgaon and Manesar plants for a day.

On March 8 too, MSIL suspended production of petrol cars at three units of the Gurgaon plant.

"To manage the stock, we have decided to suspend production of cars at Gurgaon and Manesar plants for a day. In future too, according to market demands, we may hold production," the company spokesperson told IANS Friday.

"Instead of slowing down production, we decided to go with full production during working days, and to manage the stock give an extra holiday for employees and workers," he said.

The company has a capacity to manufacture nearly 5,000 vehicles daily, including 3,000 at the Gurgaon plant and 1,700-2,000 at two units of the Manesar plant.

The company's Gurgaon plant rolls out the 800, Alto, WagonR, Zen Estillo, Dzire and Ertiga.

The Manesar plant produces diesel vehicles and the petrol-run Swift.

MSIL reported 7.89 percent decline in sales at 1,09,567 units in February. It sold 1,18,949 units in the corresponding month last year.

Last month, MSIL recorded domestic sales of 97,955 units compared to 1,07,653 units in the year-ago period, registering a fall of 9.01 percent.

The company's passenger car sales in the domestic market dipped by 10.89 percent to 83,865 units from 94,118 units in the same month of 2012.

Sales of Omni and Eeco also fell by 38.87 percent to 8,133 units from 13,305 units in February 2012.

Sales of the company's mini-segment cars, including 800, A-Star, Alto and WagonR, fell by 15.87 percent to 41,311 units during the month from 49,104 units in February 2012.

In the compact segment comprising Estilo, Swift and Ritz models, MSIL witnessed a dip of 13.90 percent in sales to 24,021 units from 27,899 units in the same month a year ago. (IANS)