Maruti Suzuki Alto completes 20 years in India with over 40 lakh units sold

Maruti Suzuki's entry-level car, Alto, has completed 20 years in the Indian market with over 40 lakh units sold here. Launched back in 2000, the car has been the preferred choice of many first time buyers.

Alto has been ruling the Indian market by holding the position of the best selling car for the past 16 years. It has undergone multiple changes and upgrades in the last two decades, making it more contemporary and feature loaded.

Alto benefits from its compact design, easy manoeuvrability, high fuel-efficiency, upgraded safety, comfort features and low cost of acquisition. It today also offers features such as touchscreen SmartPlay infotainment system, ABS with EBD, dual tone interiors and dual airbags, among others.

Maruti Alto is India’s first BS6 compliant entry-level car with aero-edge design and latest safety features including crash and pedestrian safety regulation. It has a certified fuel efficiency of 22.05 km/l for petrol and 31.56 km/kg for CNG. The hatchback is offered in petrol and factory fitted CNG option.

Alto reached the milestone of 10 lakh sales in 2008 which doubled to 20 lakh units in 2012. This was followed by 30 lakh units in 2016 before reaching the sales figure of 40 lakhs in August 2020. "Nearly 76% of Alto customers have selected it as their first car in 2019-20 which has further increased to 84% for the current year," said Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director, Marketing & Sales at Maruti Suzuki Indi. "Today, brand Alto is aptly positioned as ‘Desh Ki Shaan’, as it instils a strong emotion of pride amongst its 40 lakh customer base."

The hatchback is sold through Maruti Suzuki's Arena sales network of 2,390 dealer outlets across 1900 cities. Around 59% of Alto sales in FY 19-20 came from upcountry markets which have increased to 62% for the current year. The car has also been exported to over 40 countries including markets in Latin America, Africa and South Asia.