The Maruti Ertiga MPV has become the latest model from India’s passenger vehicle market leader to cross the 800,000-unit sales milestone in the domestic market. Launched on April 16, 2012, Maruti Suzuki India’s first crack at the MPV segment has taken 136 months or 11 years and three months to achieve this big number. During this period, an additional 58,000-odd units have also been exported.
As per Autocar Professional’s data analytics, from launch through to end-May 2023, the Ertiga has sold a total of 894,931, just 5,069 units shy of the 900,000 mark. Given the MPV’s monthly average sales of 8,262 units or a daily ‘run’ rate of 275 units in the five-month January to May 2023 period, this difference would likely have been met in the first three weeks of June 2023.
The Ertiga’s FY2023 sales of 127,679 units saw it account for 6.37% of India Auto Inc’s record utility vehicle sales of over two million units last fiscal.
A close look at the Ertiga cumulative sales data (above) reveals that the MPV took just 37 months from launch to drive past the 200,000-units mark, around 62 months or a little over five years to cross the 400,000 mark.
The popular family MPV crossed the 700,000-unit mark in early November 2021, news of which Autocar Professional broke. The run from 700,000 to 800,000 sales took 10 months, while that from 800,000 to 900,000 units has taken 11 months.
The MPV’s best performance in a fiscal was in FY2023 with 127,679 units, recording 9% year-on-year growth and going past its previous best (FY2022: 117,150 units). Ranked No. 5 in India’s Top 30 best-selling UVs in FY2023, this performance as India’s best-selling MPV, ahead of the Kia Carens and Toyota Innova, saw it account for 6.37% of India Auto Inc’s record UV sales of 20,03,718 units.
While demand for the petrol variant remains strong, the CNG variant, which Maruti Suzuki launched in February 2020, has successfully filled the vacuum left by the carmaker’s withdrawal from the diesel market in April 2020.
The Maruti Ertiga offers comfortable seating for seven passengers within a city-friendly size.
Ace of space
The new Ertiga, which won Autocar India’s Car of the Year 2019 award, benefits from clever packaging. Despite being a seven-seater, it is still compact in dimensions, and its light controls and good all-round visibility make it very user-friendly and easy to drive. The interiors are more spacious and feel plusher, and the well-cushioned seats take cabin comfort up a few notches.
One of the Ertiga’s USPs is its comfortable seating and a versatile cabin. To enable easy ingress and egress to the third-row, the second-row seat comes equipped with a one-touch recline and slide mechanism. The 50:50 split third row seats with seatback recliner and flat-fold option add to the convenience and flexibility.
Second-gen model delivers the goods
On April 15, 2022, on the 10th anniversary of the MPV, Maruti Suzuki launched the next-gen Ertiga. Pricing for the current Ertiga, available across nine variants, starts at Rs 835,000 for the base LXI variant through to Rs 12.79 lakh for the top-end ZXi+ AT variant.
The MPV is powered by a new K-series 1.5-litre dual-jet, dual VVT engine equipped with the company’s smart hybrid technology. This engine develops maximum power of 75.8 kW at 6000rpm and a max torque of 136.8 Nm at 4400rpm; the car has both manual and auto transmission options. Available both in petrol and CNG, the MY2022 Ertiga delivers a claimed mileage of 20.51 kilometres a litre (petrol) and 26.11km/kg (CNG).
On the safety front, the new Ertiga has dual airbags standard across all variants with four airbags available only in the ZXi+ variant. There is also ABS with EBD and brake assist, rear parking sensors, second row ISOFIX child seat anchorages, speed alert system, driver and co-driver seatbelt reminder as standard fitment across all the variants.
Another highlight of Ertiga ownership is that it holds onto its price when it comes to resale value. The This easy to drive Maruti for large families recently won the 2023 OLX Autos Autocar Pre-Owned Car of the Year award for delivering on all front. Not only does it offer all the expected features and good space packaging but the clincher as a used car is the combination of a low depreciation and a low purchase price.
The Ertiga, sold from the Maruti Arena sales channel, will get a new MPV sibling (after the XL6) on July 5 with the launch of the Maruti Invicto, a badge-engineered sibling of the Toyota Innova Hycross. Retailed from the premium Nexa channel, the Invicto will be Maruti Suzuki’s first model to be likely priced above Rs 20 lakh
In a competitive UV market teeming with compact SUVs and more recently midsize SUVs, the Maruti Ertiga continues to maintain a strong presence as a sensible MPV for large families. A regular in India’s monthly best-selling passenger vehicle chart, the urban-friendly MPV continues to bring in the numbers for Maruti Suzuki consistently. The Ertiga’s drive to a million units has begun. With less than 10 months to go for the ongoing fiscal to end, will this MPV’s million milestone come up in FY2024?
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