Maruti steps up heat on SUV rivals

Maruti Suzuki doubled its share in the category to 17.4% last month, up from 8.8% in February 2022. Rivals Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra did manage to grow volumes in the segment in the period under review but saw a decline of 2.3% and 0.7% in market share, respectively. Korean auto major Hyundai – now fourth in the pecking order after Maruti Suzuki – saw market share slide 3.3% in February.

Maruti Suzuki is confident with two new models in the space Jimny and Fronx – scheduled to go on sale shortly – it will be able to claim for itself the top slot in the SUV segment in the upcoming fiscal year. Overall, it expects to grow market share to 45% in FY24, from about 41% in FY23.

“Our share in the non-SUV segment of the Indian PV market is above 65%. To achieve our medium term target of 50% market share we have to increase our footprint in the SUV space as well. We were earlier constrained by lack of models in the SUV space but with Grand Vitara and the newly unveiled Fronx and Jimny we should gain significant volumes in the next financial year”, Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director (marketing and sales), Maruti Suzuki told ET.

SUVs currently account for about 11.9% of sales at Maruti Suzuki. The company has pending orders for nearly 100,000 units of the Brezza and the Grand Vitara. The Jimny and the Fronx – prices of which are yet to be announced – have garnered between them an additional 35,000 bookings.

Sales of SUVs grew by 37.8% in the local market in the first 10 months of the fiscal. With this, SUVs now comprise 43% of total sales of passenger vehicles in the Indian market. Srivastava added, “Our MD has given us the target to be number one in the SUV space and that has become the war cry for our marketing and sales force.”

Maruti Suzuki – which has seen its share in local passenger vehicle sales shrink below the halfway mark due to a weak presence in the SUV category – has been working overtime to beef up its volumes in the segment.