Maruti Suzuki eyes mid-SUV segment for greater market share

Maruti Suzuki may be a late entrant in the SUV race in India, but the automaker is quickly ramping up its pace. The auto manufacturer is considering the SUV segment as a critical area to increase its overall market share in the Indian passenger vehicle market, said Senior Executive Director of Maruti Suzuki Shashank Srivastava. He also said that Maruti Suzuki is aiming at the midsize SUV segment to catch a greater market share.

Currently, Maruti Suzuki's overall market share is less than 45 per cent, which is substantially less than its previous record 50 per cent market stake. However, the automaker is betting big on the SUVs to regain its lost market share.

Talking about the automaker's goal, Srivastava said that the company has a market share of more than 65 per cent, while in the SUV segment, it is not big. The company's primary objective is to lift the overall market share to 50 per cent. "SUV is the largest and fastest-growing segment, and Maruti must have a good market share in this. In the entry-level SUV segment, Maruti's share is 20 per cent of the 6.6 lakh cars which is being sold annually. But Maruti does not have a car in the mid-SUV segment whose size is 5.5 lakh," he told PTI.

He also said that Maruti Suzuki is a market leader in the entry-level SUV segment but has no presence in the mid-size SUV category. "There is a need to enter the mid-SUV segment for which it will launch a model in the last week of September this year", Srivastava said, adding that the company needs to grow in volume and market share both. He also said that the volume of diesel SUV sales in the mid-size SUV segment is dropping as petrol engines are giving good fuel efficiency.

He also added that Maruti Suzuki is also looking at the sub-four metre SUV segment, adding that the company has a good market share in the van segment.