SUVs drive Maruti Suzuki to hit highest ever sales in a month

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has achieved a major milestone in monthly sales in August. The carmaker sold the highest number of cars since it began operations in India last month with 1.89 lakh vehicles delivered or exported. Maruti's dominance in the small and compact car segment remains. However, what has helped the carmaker achieve the highest ever monthly sales ever is its SUV portfolio consisting of models like Brezza, Grand Vitara, Fronx and Jimny. The utility vehicles from the Maruti stable has seen the biggest growth last month in terms of sales.

Maruti Suzuki's sales in India has grown by 14 per cent compared to the same month last year when the carmaker sold 1.65 lakh units. The carmaker issued a statement today (September 1) to say that its overall domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 1.56 lakh compared to 1.34 lakh in August last year, a growth of around 16 per cent.

Maruti Suzuki, which once was dominated the market share with the help of its small cars like Alto, has seen a sharp decline in sales in the segment. In August, Maruti's sales in the small car segment dropped to 12,209 units from 22,162 units during the same period in 2022. However, the compact car segment, which includes models like Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis and Swift, saw marginal rise from 71,557 units last year to 72,451 units in August.

Maruti Suzuki's offensive in the SUV segment seems to be paying off. With a fleet that includes Brezza, Grand Vitara, Fronx and Jimny, the utility segment has seen a massive rise compared to August last year. Maruti Suzuki sold 58,746 units last month, almost double to 26,932 units it sold last year in the same month. Besides the SUVs, Maruti Suzuki also offers utility vehicles like Ertiga, XL6 and Invicto MPVs.

Maruti Suzuki also reported that it has seen a rise in exports too in August. The export figures for the carmaker stood at 24,614 units last month compared to 21,481 units during the same month last year.

Maruti Suzuki's highest ever monthly sales also boosted the price of its shares. On Friday, shares of Maruti Suzuki India jumped more than 3 per cent in the mid-session trade. The stock of the carmaker bounced 3.47 per cent to ₹10,351.30 on the NSE, while at BSE, the shares grew by 3.44 per cent to ₹10,350.90.