Utility vehicles power Maruti Suzuki in June but small cars still underperform

Maruti Suzuki on Monday announced it had sold 137,160 cars in the domestic Indian car market and a total of 179,228 units when light commercial vehicles (LCVs), exports and sales to other OEMs are accounted for. The domestic sales of Maruti Suzuki cars last month was around four thousand units more than in June of 2023 with mini and compact sub-segments underperforming while utility vehicles continuing to stage a rescue act.

Last month, Maruti Suzuki sold significantly less number of cars in the Mini sub-segment (Alto and S-Presso) at 9,395 units in India, down from over 14,000 from the same month of 2023. Even the compact sub-segment which has models like Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift and WagonR registered a minuscule year-on-year dip - from 64,471 units to 64,049. Company officials, however, say that introduction of Dream Series Edition on Alto, S-Presso and Celerio, as well as expanding it to other models in the Maruti camp, will provide impetus.

On expected lines however, Ciaz sedan's fortunes continue to slide with sales falling to 572 units last month from 1,744 in June of 2023.

Rise and spread of Maruti Suzuki utility vehicles

Maruti Suzuki has been betting big on utility vehicles and has expanded its lineup exponentially in recent times. This continues to add wind to its proverbial sails. The likes of Brezza, Ertiga, XL6, Fronx and Grand Vitara are dominant players while Jimny and Invicto are reportedly providing cover from the sidelines. A total of 52,373 units of these models were sold last month, as against 43,404 units in June of 2023.

While the Brezza is a prominent player in the sub-compact SUV space, the Fronx has also established a foothold since its launch in April of 2023. The Ertiga and XL6 remain very popular while the Grand Vitara has to compete against some very formidable rivals in the mid-size SUV space.

All of this has helped the company register its best-ever Q1 (April-June) in terms of overall sales and exports - 521,868 units. The company sold 419,114 units in the domestic market in this period, up from 414,055 units in the Q1 of FY 2023.

Maruti Suzuki has also been expanding its CNG lineup and now offers its S-CNG technology in as many as 17 of its models. The company has confirmed more models will be offered with CNG technology in upcoming months.

But the faring of its smaller car models which helped lay the foundation of its continuing dominance is likely to remain a source of concern even though the segments have been stuttering for the overall market and for various manufacturers.

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