Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest auto manufacturer has emerged as the largest utility vehicle maker in the first quarter (April-May-June) of Financial Year 2018. The company has sold 57,125 units of utility vehicles like Vitara Brezza, Ertiga and S-Cross in the first quarter of FY 2018, which is an increase of 45% (39,348 units) compared to the first quarter of FY17.
Since its launch, Maruti Suzuki’s popular compact SUV Vitara Brezza has taken the fight to the competition, mainly to that Ford Ecosport, dethroning it to become the best selling compact SUV in the market. Month on month, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza keeps churing sales numbers close to 10000 which is quite a commendable feat. Vitara Brezza and compact MUV Ertiga has helped Maruti Suzuki gain leadership in the utility vehicle segment during the first quarter of 2017-18, dislodging the competition.
In the B-segment which comprises of compact SUVs, MUVs and sedans, the market share of Maruti Suzuki has increased by 7.7% in the first quarter of Financial Year 2017-18. During April-June 2017, MSIL market share in B-segment stood at 29.3% against 21.5% in the same months previous year.
The company launched compact SUV Vitara Brezza in 2016 and till date has sold over 1.45 lakh units of popular compact SUV. The demand for the compact SUV has been such that the waiting period for few variants extend to as much as 6 months.
Additionally country most popular compact MUV Ertiga which has sold over 3.42 lakhs units since launch and over 18,700 units in Q1 has also helped company attain leadership in UV segment. Ertiga was the first MUV in the country equipped with SHVS (Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki ), Apple CarPlay etc. The lower excise duty for hybrid type vehicles had helped Maruti Suzuki to price Ertiga very competitively and undercut it main rival in Renault Lodgy. However, with the implementation of GST and removal of tax subsidies to hybrids, Maruti Suzuki has increased the prices of its Ertiga and Ciaz hybrid diesels substantially
Maruti Suzuki offers Compact SUV Vitara Brezza, Compact MUV Ertiga, and Premium Crossover S-Cross in UV segment.
With continuous growth of sales numbers in this segment, Maruti Suzuki has once again proved why it is the boss of Indian automobile industry.