Maruti Suzuki May sales up 24% to 161,497 units

Maruti Suzuki India has announced its sales numbers for the month of May, and as can be expected from the bellwether of the Indian passenger vehicle industry, it has went on to significantly outperform itself over last year’s performance.

The company registered total sales of 161,497 units, posting a notable growth of 24 percent on a year-on-year basis (May 2017: 130,248). While it had put out its best-ever performance just last month, selling 164,434 units in April 2018 (+13.40%), with growth being majorly consistent, Maruti Suzuki looks well poised today to achieve its target of reaching 2 million annual sales by 2020.

Maruti’s growth came primarily fueled by its range of compact cars, which includes the Swift, Baleno, Dzire, Celerio and the Ignis. These five cars collectively went home to 77,263 buyers, registering a remarkable growth of 50.8 percent (May 2017: 51,234). Of these, however, the Swift and the Dzire remain the top grossers with the hatchback and the compact sedan siblings in their latest third-generation avatar having become hot customer favourites in their respective segments.

On the other hand, while the entry-level Alto and Wagon R posted combined sales of 37,864 units, they registered a fall of 3.1 percent (May 2017: 39,089). However, what is even more worrying is the dwindling sales of the Ciaz sedan, which notched to a new low of 4,024 units (-14.8%) in the month (May 2017: 4,724). With competition already fierce in the C-segment space, which just became fiercer with the recent entry of the Toyota Yaris, the Ciaz is in dire need of some magic trick up its sleeve to regain its lost sheen in the market.

While sales of its vans - Omni and Eeco - grew by a significant margin, selling 16,717 units and registering an uptick of 32.7 percent (May 2017: 12,593); Maruti's quartet of UVs - the Gypsy, Ertiga, Vitara Brezza and the S-Cross too posted strong results, with overall sales clocking 25,629 units and growing by 13.4 percent (May 2017: 22,608). The Vitara Brezza compact SUV, which has been leading the charge of driving the company's growth in the UV segment has also been recently updated by Maruti, giving it a breath of fresh air with a new Orange paint scheme, blackened alloy wheels, and the option of an Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) as well in its mid- and top-spec trims.

Also read: Toyota dispatches 1,585 units of Yaris in April, deliveries touch 1,000 units

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