India’s passenger vehicle market leader has reported total sales of 139,002 units in January 2021. This constitutes flat sales growth – 0.06% -- compared to January 2020’s 139,444 units. A 45% year-on-year sales growth in its UVs helped save the blushes.

Worryingly, after a few months of demand returning to the entry level duo of the Alto and S-Presso, January 2021 numbers of 25,153 units are down 2.8% (January 2020: 25,885).

The six-car pack of the Wagon R, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, which was picking up pace in the past couple of months, is also down. Altogether they have sold a total of 76,935 units, down a sizeable 8.8% (January 2020: 84,340).

The utility vehicle segment, a market which is seeing massive competition as well as a continued wave of demand, sees Maruti Suzuki notch solid growth and helps keep the company from registering a bigger decline. The quintet of the Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza and XL6 sold 23,887 units, up 45% YoY (January 2020: 16,460), slightly down on December 2020’s  25,701 units and bettering November 2020’s 23,753 units.

The premium Ciaz sedan, which has seen slow sales for a long time, sold 1,347 units, up 61% YoY albeit on a low year-ago base (January 2020: 835). In December 2020, the Ciaz had sold 1,270 units , 1,870 units in November, 1,422 in October, 1,534 in September and 1,223 in August.

The two vans – Eeco and Omni – sold 11,680 units, down 5.2% YoY (January 2020: 12,234. 

The growing demand for the two Toyota-Suzuki models – Toyota Glanza and Urban Cruiser – which Maruti Suzuki makes for Toyota Kirloskar Motor, has resulted in the company selling 5,703 units to TKM, which constitutes 153% YoY growth (January 2020: 2,249).  In fact, TKM has reported that the two models have together crossed the 50,000 units mark last month.