Maruti Suzuki India, the largest carmaker in the country, has revealed its sales numbers for May 2016.

In the domestic market, the carmaker has sold a total of 113,162 units which is a 10.6% growth (May 2015: 102,359). Overall passenger car sales have seen marginal growth at 87,402, which is a 2.6% growth (May 2015: 85,190).

The stellar performance has come from the UVs whose sales have jumped 144.2% to 13,596 units (May 2015: 5,567). No prizes for guessing who the big contributor is. Clearly, the Vitara Brezza is making its presence felt and is proving to be a buffer in the face of slowing sales of its entry level cars. The compact SUV – Maruti’s first such product – is seeing massive demand and currently has a waiting period of 7-9 months, depending on the variant. The Vitara Brezza, which sold 5,563 units in March 2016 and 7,832 units in April, is expected to have sold higher units in May. Maruti’s sales split (detailed below) reveals that its UVs (Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross and Vitara Brezza) have delivered a smart performance.

Sales of the entry level duo of the Alto and Wagon R have been under pressure for some time now. In May, they sold a total of 33,105 units, down 5.6%  (May 2015: 35,062). It’s also thanks to the Baleno – the other much-in-demand Maruti with a long waiting period – that sales of the five Maruti compact cars (Swift, Ritz, Celerio, Baleno and Dzire) rose 11% last month to 46,554 (May 2015: 41,926). Meanwhile, the premium Ciaz sedan continues to see demand with sales of 5,188 units, up 3.5 (May 2015: 5,012).

The Maruti vans – Omni and the Eeco – are also seeing sustained demand and sold a total of 12,164 units, up 4.8% (May 2015: 11,602).

Exports down

On the export front, Maruti Suzuki despatched a total of 9,872 units, which is 20.8% down on the earlier-year sales numbers (May 2015:12,466). However, with shipments of the Baleno gathering steam, the company should be able to post improved export numbers soon.