Maruti's profit soars two fold in the first quarter, yet less than expected

Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker has seen its profit soar in the first quarter of the ongoing financial year. The carmaker announced on Wednesday that its profit has soared two-fold compared to the period between April and June last year. The consolidated net profit of Maruti Suzuki in the first quarter of 2022-23 is ₹1,036 crore against ₹475 crore profit it registered last year during the the Covid-19-hit quarter. However, Maruti Suzuki's massive jump in profit is still far less than what was estimated earlier.

During the period between April and June this year, Maruti Suzuki's overall sales of cars rose to ₹26,512 crore. This too is higher compared to ₹17,776 crore during the same period last financial year. In these three months, Maruti Suzuki sold 467,931 units, out of which 398,494 units were sold in India. 69,437 units were exported, the highest ever Maruti has clocked in any quarter.

Maruti Suzuki went on a launch spree during these three months. The carmaker drove in the facelift versions of its Ertiga and XL6 MPVs and the Brezza facelift sub-compact SUV. The sales of the new generation Ertiga and XL6 have contributed to Maruti's net profit in this quarter. Maruti Brezza facelift, which was launched on the last day of the quarter, is expected to have its impact in the second quarter.

Earlier, Bloomberg had estimated that Maruti Suzuki will clock around ₹1,570 crore. Maruti's jumps in sales as well as profit margin comes despite all carmakers struggling with rising input costs and the challenge of semiconductor crisis along with supply chain issues. These factors have forced carmakers like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra and others to raise the prices of their vehicles periodically.

Maruti Suzuki will look to improve on its profit margin in the ongoing quarter with the most anticipated launch of its new mid-size SUV Grand Vitara. Maruti Suzuki unveiled the Grand Vitara SUV earlier this month. It is expected to disrupt the mid-size SUV segment dominated by Korean players Hyundai and Kia with the Creta and Seltos SUVs. If Maruti succeeds with Grand Vitara, along with the new Brezza, the profit margin is only expected to go up.