Passenger vehicle market leader’s sole commercial vehicle sees growing acceptance across the country.
12 Apr 2019 | 34666 Views | By Kiran Bajad
Maruti Suzuki India’s entry into the commercial vehicle segment appears to be paying off for the company. The Super Carry mini-truck, its lone product targeted at the last-mile goods delivery, is gradually gaining market share. The 2-tonne mini-truck segment is dominated by driver-cum entrepreneurial owners with Tata Motors and Mahindra ...
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Maruti Suzuki India’s entry into the commercial vehicle segment appears to be paying off for the company. The Super Carry mini-truck, its lone product targeted at the last-mile goods delivery, is gradually gaining market share. The 2-tonne mini-truck segment is dominated by driver-cum entrepreneurial owners with Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra the market leaders with an expansive range of products competitive price-points.
While Maruti Suzuki, the dominant passenger vehicle market leader, would have preferred to see stronger numbers for the Super Carry, the mini-truck is slowly gaining acceptance across the country. In FY2019, the vehicle sold 10,033 units to get market share of 6 percent. In FY2019, it grew market share by 4 percentage points to 10 percent, with sales of 23,874 units, up 137 percent year on year, albeit on a low year-ago base. The company also exported 2,251 units of the Super Carry to some African countries.
The Super Carry has some distinct features along with the focus on driver comfort. The spacious driver’s cabin comes with ergonomically designed features like flat and extended co-passenger seat with a thick glass fibre heat shield for better heat insulation and NVH, a well-positioned gear lever and ergonomically placed pedals. On the features front, it gets a mobile charging socket, dual assist grip, odometer, trip meter, fuel meter and digital clock, besides provision for a stereo. There is also an integrated rain guard, sliding back window glass, and conveniently located spare wheel carrier for ease of replacement. Nevertheless, the Super Carry, has still a long way before it proves to be any real threat to the market leaders. However, the company’s decades-old hold on the competitive passenger car segment is any indication, then it would certainly look to make further in-roads in the mini truck segment to emerge a formidable player.
Tata Motors leads the pack
In the 2-tonne mini-truck segment, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are the two formidable players dominate the category with 89 percent of combined market share. In FY2019, the segment registered total sales of 235,024 units, up by nearly 42 percent (FY2018:165,479).
Tata Motors is a clear market leader in the segment with a sale of 156,409 units with a market share of 66 percent. The extended Tata Ace range of small trucks continues to rule the market as it is the most preferred choice for last-mile connectivity. M&M with its Jeeto range of small trucks has a market share of 22.6 percent but still remains a distant No. 2 to Tata Motors which has an overwhelming 66 percent market share.