Riding high on Brezza, Grand Vitara, Maruti clocks four times rise in profit
India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has clocked a massive jump in profit between July and September this year with the introduction of two new SUVs - the 2022 Brezza and the new Grand Vitara. The carmaker announced its quarterly report on Friday, reporting a four-times rise in its profit amid record sales during the pre-festive season thanks to its two new entrants. Brezza was launched on June 30 while the Grand Vitara, which replaced Maruti's previous compact SUV S-Cross, clocked over 55,000 bookings within days of its launch in late September.
Maruti, India's largest carmaker by volume of units sold, has around 40 per cent market share mostly due to its dominance in the small car segment. Brezza and Grand Vitara are Maruti's fresh approach towards disrupting the SUV segment dominated by Korean rivals like Hyundai Motor, Kia and Tata Motors. During the previous three months, Maruti sold a record 5.17 lakh vehicles, up by more than 35 per cent compared to the same period last year.
During these three months, Maruti raked up profit worth ₹2,062 crore, up from just ₹475 crore a year ago. The profit figures is much higher than what the analysts had predicted. However, Maruti took a hit in production, failing to manufacture about 35,000 vehicles during this period due to shortage of electronic components. Maruti currently has an order backlog of around 4.12 lakh vehicles, up from 2.80 lakh at the end of the first quarter.
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The Brezza sub-compact SUV has been one of the key reasons why Maruti has faired so well in the last three months. Brezza, in its new generation, has been the best-selling SUV in the country for the past two consecutive months. Brezza was launched at a starting price of ₹7.99 lakh (ex-showroom) and it rivals the likes of Tata Nexon, Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet among others.
Maruti Suzuki launched the Grand Vitara SUV at a starting price of ₹10.45 lakh (ex-showroom) to take on the compact SUV leaders like Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. Maruti had revealed its intentions to go big in the SUV segment after dominance in the small car segment over the years. The Grand Vitara, according to Maruti, is aimed at ‘disrupting’ the compact SUV segment.
