Maruti Suzuki WagonR shines as hatchback sales surge for the carmaker in 2024

SUVs have been the flavour of the Indian automotive market for quite some time now. In fact till November 2024, SUVs contributed to about 54.7 per cent of the total passenger vehicle industry volume. However, for the leading Indian carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, the story remains a bit different. During a recent press conference, the company noted that the best seller for the carmaker from April 2024 to December 2024 was the Maruti Suzuki WagonR with sales of 1,90,855 units, followed by the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga at 1,90,000 units.

Interestingly, for the carmaker, out of the top five best selling models, three were hatchbacks including the WagonR, Maruti Suzuki Swift with 1,72,808 units and the Maruti Suzuki Baleno with 1,72,094 units. In fact, Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive - Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India, revealed that in the month of December, the top three selling vehicles for the carmaker were hatchbacks including the Swift with 29,765 units sold followed by the WagonR and Baleno with 29,566 units and 26,789 units respectively.

However, for the period between April 2024 to December 2024, Maruti Suzuki’s wholesale numbers for hatchback saw a slight downturn. Nonetheless, Banerjee explained that while the wholesale numbers saw a dip, the actual retail, which refers to the vehicles delivered from the dealership, saw an increase of 4 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

Banerjee expressed that the company’s take is that it needs to keep on serving the customers, and it is just a matter of time when this affordability part and other things will be addressed again. “I believe we’re seeing customers return because the issue with entry-level hatchbacks today isn’t the product itself but the affordability factor. The market will catch up eventually. When that will happen is the million-dollar question, but our focus remains on consistently serving our customers," he added.

Booming MPV and SUV sales for Maruti Suzuki

While hatchbacks have always remained the bread and butter for the leading Indian carmaker, the changing market dynamics have also helped the carmaker to post good growth in MPV and SUV segments as well. In fact, Banerjee explained that for Maruti Suzuki MPVs remained the most growing segment between April 2024 to December 2024, with a growth of 36.5 per cent year-on-year.

The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga remained the second best selling model for the brand in 2024

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The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga remained the second best selling model for the brand in 2024

The most selling MPV for the brand remained the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga with sales of 1.90 lakh during the said period, making it the second best seller for the carmaker in financial 2024-25 till date.

Meanwhile, the company’s SUV portfolio saw a growth of 21 per cent between April and December of 2024 led by the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, followed by the Maruti Suzuki Fronx and the Grand Vitara. Interestingly, the company’s fourth SUV, Maruti Suzuki Jimny sold 1,500 units in the month of December, which compared to the Mahindra Thar is way less.

However, Banerjee believes that for a lifestyle vehicle, the numbers are good enough. He explained while dismissing rumors of a price cut on Jimny that it is a lifestyle product, so the market needs a little longer time to really understand these type of products.

Resurgence of sedans for Maruti Suzuki

While SUVs have taken center stage in the market, leaving sedans to bear the brunt, Maruti Suzuki’s story stands apart once again. Banerjee pointed out that while the industry trend suggests that sedans have seen a downfall, for Maruti Suzuki, sedans saw a growth of 4 per cent in the time period between April and December 2024. In fact the Maruti Suzuki Dzire saw sales of almost 1.68 lakh units in the said period.

Also watch: Maruti Dzire 2024 review | Aura enhanced to Amaze sedan lovers? Features, drive experience, mileage

In fact, post the launch of the third generation Maruti Suzuki Dzire, the company has claimed to have received a good response from the market. Maruti Suzuki claims that it has an order book of over 20,000 units for the 2024 Maruti Suzuki Dzire, while 10,709 units have already been sold since deliveries for the product started in December 2024.

Banerjee further pointed out that with the new Dzire, almost 37 per cent of the customers are opting for the top end ZXi and ZXi + trim levels with 17 per cent of the customers choosing the automatic transmission option. To put it to comparison, the previous gen model saw 19 per cent of its total sales coming from the top end models.

Check out Upcoming Cars in India 2024, Best SUVs in India.