Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest car maker, has overtaken Mahindra & Mahindra to become the largest SUV maker in terms of volumes in July 2023. In the process, its premium sales channel Nexa has wrested No. 2 position from Hyundai Motor India in terms of total automotive sales for an OEM brand.
In July 2023, Maruti Suzuki India sold a total of 62,049 utility vehicles, growing strongly by 167% year on year (July 2022: 23,272 units). The company sold an estimated 42,620 SUVs, which is nearly 6,500 units more than Mahindra & Mahindra’s 36,124 units. What has helped power Maruti Suzuki’s charge is the sustained demand for its models sold from its premium Nexa channel – Grand Vitara, Jimny, Fronx, Invicto, S-Cross and XL6.
Last month, the Nexa models sold around 52,450 units, over 1,500 units higher than Hyundai Motor India which saw flat sales of 50,701 units (July 2022: 50,500 units). This effectively makes the Nexa the No. 2 Utility Vehicle brand in the country.
The launch of the Fronx and Jimny have brought in incremental volumes for Maruti Suzuki, taking its cumulative SUV orderbook to 110,000 units.
On the cumulative front, in the four-month April-July 2023 period, Maruti Suzuki sold about 135,246 SUVs, which is a few hundred units lower than Mahindra & Mahindra’s 136,174 units. Given this momentum, in FY2024 too, Maruti Suzuki should grab the No. 1 SUV maker position from Mahindra at the end of August 2023, almost six months ahead of its plan. Given the expected improved supply chain scenario at its end, Maruti Suzuki is expected to meet its target of being the largest SUV maker and help the brand inch back towards its 50% passenger vehicle market.
The first four months of the ongoing fiscal have seen the company’s Nexa outlets sell around 184,200 units compared to 199,000 units of Hyundai Motor India. When it comes to monthly volumes, from now on there is likely to be healthy competition for the No. 2 position between Hyundai, Nexa and Tata Motors.
Commenting on the July numbers, Maruti Suzuki’s senior executive director Shashank Srivastava said: “While our new SUV launches have helped improve our market share in the SUV segment as also for our Nexa channel, we still have a long way to go. We hope that with improved production, following improved semiconductor components supplies, we can further consolidate our position in the segment. There is absolutely no room for complacency.
The company’s robust performance has meant that Maruti Suzuki has also become the largest player in the Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh market as well. It has a market share of 23% in the segment versus about 19% for Hyundai Motor India.
Srivastava is of the opinion that the demand environment continues to hold well and the industry despatched its second highest monthly sales in July 2023, after 355,000 units in September 2022.
“While the growth rate is in low single digits, the industry continues to scale new peaks. We expect the momentum to continue with the festive season kicking in, he concluded.