Maruti Suzuki sells 110,454 PVs in September, records improved performance over August

One day after Maruti Suzuki launched its new S-Presso SUV-inspired hatchback, the carmaker today announced its sales / despatch numbers for September 2019. At a cumulative 110,454 units, the number is down 27.1 percent on year-ago sales (September 2018: 151,512).  However, the total is better than the July (98,274) and August (93,173) numbers when sales had fallen below the 100,000-unit mark.

September 2019 marks the seventh straight month of a sales decline for the PV market leader. 
January: 139,440 (0.18%)
February: 136,912 (0.19%)
March: 145,031 (-1.45%)
April: 131,385 (-19.61%)
May: 121,018 (-25.06%)
June: 111,014 (-17.18%)
July: 98,274 (-35.52%)
August 2019: 93,173 (-36.1%)
September 2019: 110,454 (-27.1%)

Despite the festive season opening in September, the month looks to have been a tough one for the market leader, whose PV market share has fallen to 49.83 percent in the April-August 2019 period. The entry level hatchback segment comprising of the Alto, S-Presso and the old Wagon R saw despatches of 20,085 units, down 42.6 percent (September 2018: 34,971). The carmaker will be banking on the S-Presso to bring in some much-needed fizz to sales in this segment and overall numbers.  

The six-member compact car lot – New Wagon R, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Baleno and Dzire – together sold a total of 57,179 units, down 22.7 percent (September 2018: 74,011). For Maruti, its passenger car numbers are down 31.5 percent on year-ago sales (see the detailed table below).

UV numbers improve over August
If there is a glimmer of positivity, then it is in the company utility vehicle sales. Compared to August, when a total of 18,522 UVs were sold, Maruti Suzuki has recorded sales of 21,526 units (-0.5%), but improved numbers month on month.

The expanded UV portfolio with the addition of the recently launched XL6 MPV (Gypsy, Ertiga, XL6, Vitara Brezza and S-Cross) has is seeing an uptick and it looks like the XL6 is giving Maruti Suzuki hope in a depressed market and has the potential to achieve bigger sales.

The Ciaz premium sedan is also down by a fair percentage. At 1,715 units, numbers are down 72.5 percent but better than the 1,596 units sold in August. Numbers have also improved for the Eeco and Omni vans – 9,949 units, down 32 percent but better than the 8,658 units of August 2019.

Maruti Suzuki also sold a total of 2,952 units of the rebadged Baleno, sold as the Toyota Glanza to Toyota Kirloskar Motor, in September 2019. This is the highest monthly number of the Glanza since deliveries began in April 2019. With this, total Glanza deliveries over the six-month period have crossed the 10,000-unit mark.