The Maruti Ertiga MPV is the latest model from India’s passenger vehicle market to cross the 800,000-unit sales milestone. Launched on April 16, 2012, the Maruti Ertiga was Maruti Suzuki India's first crack at the MPV segment and has taken 10 years and five months to achieve this number.

The popular family MPV crossed the 700,000-unit mark in early November 2021, news of which Autocar Professional broke. The 800,000 sales milestone has been notched in August 2022, which means the last 100,000 Ertiga sales have come in just 10 months.

As per Autocar Professional’s data analytics, from launch to end-August 2022, the Ertiga has sold a total of 807,737 units. The MPV’s best annual sales came in FY2022 – 117,150 units – which translates into a monthly average of 9,762 units. The MPV is faring much better in the ongoing fiscal and in the first five months of FY2023, the Ertiga’s cumulative sales of 56,546 units means a monthly average of 11,309 units. The CNG variant, which Maruti Suzuki launched in February 2020, has successfully filled the vacuum left by its withdrawal from the diesel market in April 2020.

Ace of space
The new Ertiga, which was Autocar India’s Car of the Year 2019, 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.

Celebrating 10^th anniversary with a new model
On April 15, 2022, on the 10^th anniversary of the MPV, Maruti Suzuki launched the next-gen Ertiga. Pricing for the current Ertiga 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).

The CNG variant, which delivers 26.11km/kg, and launched in February 2020, has given a new charge to the Ertiga's sales.

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, 2nd row ISOFIX child seat anchorages, speed alert system, driver and co-driver seatbelt reminder as standard fitment across all the variants.

In a market teeming with compact SUVs and more recently midsize SUVs, the Maruti Ertiga continues to maintain a strong presence. While not overly flamboyant with monthly numbers as compared to its siblings the Swift, Baleno or the Wagon R, this MPV nonetheless has been a sturdy market soldier for Maruti Suzuki, delivering the goods consistently. Sometimes, that’s just what matters in the long run. 

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