Domestic automobile major Maruti Suzuki India has reported producing 141,269 vehicles in October 2017, an increase of 6.23 percent (October 2016: 132,980).

Production in October was a mixed bag – Mini category (Alto, Wagon R) 34,491 (-2.36%), compact category (Ritz, Swift, Celerio, Dzire, Baleno, Ignis, Dzire Tour) 67,692 (+19.17%), Midsize (Ciaz) 4,358 (-33.77%), UVs (Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza) 20,786 (+11.97%), Vans (Eeco, Omni) 12,848 (-1.15%), and commercial vehicles (Super Carry) 1,094 (+296.38%).

With Maruti’s production in October, 2017 witnessed a growth of 6.23 percent, it reported sales of 135,128 vehicles, a year-on-year growth of 9.5% (October 2016: 123,684). 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.

As the automobile segment is gearing towards new paradigm shift from both the central government’s decision for achieving an all-electric vehicle fleet by 2030 along with changing consumer preferences, the domestic major will need to switch gears for offering new-age offerings. In a recent presentation during the Suzuki Motor Corporation’s second-quarter result in Tokyo, Toshihiro Suzuki, CEO, Suzuki, said: “As the industry shifts towards EVs, when it comes to India, our volumes are so large that I worry that we could be caught flat-footed if there was a sudden shift towards electrification.”

 Also read: Maruti helps Suzuki clock highest-ever production in September and for half-year