Indian automobile maker Maruti Suzuki India is looking to increase its market share to 50 per cent overall , up from 45 per cent now, as it makes a big splash into the SUV market with the launch of its Jimny and Fronx variants.

The new SUVs have received over 36,000 bookings, even though their prices have not yet been revealed.

Maruti Suzuki dominatesin the non-SUV segment with 65 per cent market share, and its market share in the SUV segment grew from 11 per cent to 17 per cent in this fiscal. The company plans to increase its market share in the segment to 33 per cent.

Read:Maruti Suzuki has backlog of 3.69 lakh units due to semiconductor shortage: Shashank Srivastava

SUVs in focus

“We examined the industry and found that there are 46 brands in the SUV space and Maruti Suzuki had only two. Brezza comes under the entry-SUV space, and is a market leader giving us good volumes, while Grand Vitara, in the mid-SUV segment, has over 1,20,000 bookings and we are supplying around 6 thousand units per month. When you combine the SUV with the non-SUV our market share falls below 45 per cent,” said Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

Further, the company stated that with an increase in sales and supply of Grand Vitara that was earlier constrained due to semiconductors the SUV segment gained market share.

“We have a clear target. In the entry SUV space, we introduced Jimny and Front and we will start selling them by the end of March- April. The response is good with 600-650 bookings every day for Jimny. We will start selling by the end of March and April and it will reflect next year,” said Srivastava.

Read: Maruti Suzuki bets big on eco-friendly mobility solutions

In February, Maruti Suzuki manufactured 1,56,438 passenger vehicles as opposed to 1,65,672 units in February 2022, data from Society Of Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM) shows.

Growth in hatchback segment

While the entry-level car segment has seen an overall decrease in demand and sales, the company stated it is seeing growth in hatchbacks.

“The entry-level hatchbacks that were at 45 per cent two years back, currently are at 35 per cent of the market. The peak for the hatchbacks was nearly 15,60,000 in 2017-2018, and it went down to 11,55,000. However this year we have seen a 20 per cent growth in the segment. It is expected that it should be around 13,40,000 this year,” added Srivastava.

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