Maruti Suzuki is betting big on SUVs to increase its market share. At present, the Indo-Japanese automaker holds 45 percent market share and aims to increase it to 50 percent in the near future. The new-generation Brezza, Grand Vitara and Fronx along with other utility vehicles (like Ertiga, XL6) has helped the company strengthen its game in the SUV segment.
In May 2023, the company sold 46,243 units of UVs against 28,051 units in the same month previous year. The company says that it recorded total UV sales of 82,997 units in the first two months of this fiscal year (i.e. April and May 2023). It’s significantly higher when compared to the sales figures (61,992 units) of the corresponding months of last financial year.
The Indo-Japanese automaker managed to sell 1,78,083 units in May 2023 including 1,46,596 units of domestic market, 26,477 units of exports and 5,010 units of supply to other OEM (Toyota). In the hatchback and compact sedan segments, the company sold 83,655 units witnessing a slight decline compared to May 2022. Major decline noticed in the mini segment that includes S-Presso and Alto. The compact car segment and Ciaz sedan registered a slight surge.
With an aim to further improve its SUV sales, Maruti Suzuki will bring in the 5-door Jimny in the coming days. Its prices are slated to announce on 7th June 2023. The lifestyle, off-road SUV comes with a 1.5L K15B petrol engine (105bhp/134.2Nm) with the manual and automatic gearbox options. Its manual version is claimed to deliver a fuel efficiency of 16.94kmpl and the automatic offers 16.39kmpl.
The SUV has Suzuki’s AllGrip Pro 4WD system with a manual transfer case and a low-range gearbox with 2WD-high, 4WD-high and 4WD-low modes. The 5-door Maruti Jimny gets two trims Zeta and Alpha. The company will also introduce a premium strong hybrid MPV in July 2023. The model, which will essentially be the re-badged Toyota Innova Hycross, could be named – Maruti Suzuki Engage.
