Maruti Suzuki sells 135,128 units in October, up 9.3%

Maruti Suzuki India has reported sales of 135,128 vehicles in October 2017, a year-on-year growth of 9.5% (October 2016: 123,684). The company’s sales are marginally lower than expected given that the festive season of Diwali, when consumers prefer to drive home their new set of wheels, was in October.   

While sales for its entry-level segment offerings, the Alto and the Wagon R have registered a dip of 4.2 percent in October 2017 with 32,490 units (October 2016: 33,929), the quintet of compact cars – Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and the Dzire – registered solid 24.7 percent growth with sale of 62,480 units (October 2016: 50,116).

Expect the bulk of the contribution to these numbers to have come from the new third-generation Dzire compact sedan, which has set the sales charts afire for the company. This smart-looking, feature-laden and aggressively priced vehicle has also set a new record for the sub-four-metre sedan segment in the country, selling 31,427 units in September 2017 alone, and surpassing the 100,000-unit mark in October, barely five-and-a half months of being launched in May 2017.

The Ciaz, the company’s sole C-segment offering, however, is on a downward path, clocking sales of 4,107 units (October 2016: 6,360), a sharp drop of 35.4 percent. This premium sedan, now sold through the Nexa channel, clocked its best sales in April 2017 with 7,024 units. Since July, the car seems to have borne the brunt of the high tax levied on hybrid vehicles under the new GST regime, which has clearly impacted sales of the diesel version of the car which comes equipped with Suzuki’s Smart-Hybrid system. 

 
Surging demand for Vitara Brezza, Ertiga continues
What is giving Maruti sales the charge is the surging demand for its UV offerings particularly the Vitara Brezza. The company’s UV portfolio, comprising the Gypsy, Ertiga, Vitara Brezza and the newly introduced S-Cross facelift, sold 23,382 units last month, marking sizeable 29.8 percent growth (October 2016: 18,008).

Since the S-Cross facelift was launched towards the end of October, the hot-selling Vitara Brezza could be considered to have brought the bulk of these numbers, as the compact SUV from the country’s No. 1 carmaker has set record numbers in the past, selling 15,243 units in July 2017, 14,396 units in August, and 13,268 units in September.

The declining trend, however, could be attributed to the arrival of the Tata Nexon, which undercuts the Brezza by a notable margin. But with strong demand for cars in the festive month, this pattern could be expected to get slightly corrected in October sales.

The two vans, the Maruti Suzuki Omni and the Eeco, sold a total of 12,669 units, which makes for flat growth of 0.9 percent (October 2016: 12,790).

Seen overall, Maruti’s passenger cars sold a total of 99,077 units in October 2017, registering growth of 6.7 percent (October 2016: 92,886) while UVs and vans together clocked 36,051 units, a 17 percent growth (October 2016: 30,798).

Maruti Suzuki’s cumulative sales in the current fiscal (April-October 2017) have reached 1,033,135 units (+14.7%), compared to 900,706 units a year ago. Of this, domestic sales account for 961,832 units (April-October 2016: 829,134), posting strong 16 percent growth. Exports in the same period are 71,303 units, indicating flat growth (April-October 2016: 71,572). 

Domestic passenger vehicle sales total 957,603, which marks a 15.5 percent YoY growth (April-October 2016: 828,971). Given the sales trend of India’s largest carmaker, the company is well set to notch record sales in FY2018.