Maruti Suzuki targets doubling of SUV sales and UV leadership in FY2024

Maruti Suzuki India, which leads the passenger vehicle market with a 42% share, has set its sights on also being the leader in the SUV market. The company, which currently has an 18.25% share of the utility vehicle market, has set its sights on being the No. 1 UV player in FY2024, a year in which it targets to double its SUV sales.

Autocar Professional learns with the just the new Brezza and the Grand Vitara, Maruti Suzuki is set to close FY2023 with (UV) sales of around 200,000 to 225,000 units. This is set to more than double with the introduction of new models like the Fronx, five-door Jimny and full year of production for its Grand Vitara midsize SUV launched in September 2022. This would mean the company’s UV sales, which includes the popular Ertiga and the XL6 MPVs, will likely surpass the half-a-million UV sales milestone in the domestic market in FY2024.

Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director, Sales and Marketing at Maruti Suzuki India, told Autocar Professional, “We have Brezza as the entry SUV, Grand Vitara the mid-SUV and now with two more SUVs (Jimny and the Fronx), we should be No. 1 in SUVs in the next financial year. Our booking momentum is strong, led by a new range of SUVs. Our total pending booking at present is around 405,000 units helped by fresh bookings of the new Fronx and Jimny SUVs and pending bookings of Brezza and Grand Vitara, which add up to 145,000 units.”

For Maruti Suzuki to attain leadership in the SUV market in FY2024, it would have to grab a minimum of 8-10% of incremental market share, which calls for significant outperformance and doubling of volumes. The company has set itself a target of 45% market share in the overall PV market next fiscal, before it makes an attempt to regain 50% share in FY2025.  

As per the company’s production plan, Maruti Suzuki may end up with a (UV) market share of around 23-24% in FY2024, say sources. Srivastava does not give any guidance of volumes but says that “the eventual goal is to regain 50% market share in the overall PV market. Looking at the growth trends across segments, we should ideally have a 33% market share to inch back to half of the market. It will be tough to attain it next year but in the following year, it may be possible.”

Making the most of a booming segment

Since the past three-odd years, the booming UV market has been the driver of growth in the overall PV market and have already crossed 1.6 million units in the first 10 months of the ongoing fiscal.

Maruti Suzuki has been under-represented in this segment until the Auto Expo 2023. UV sales are expected notch strong growth of over 30% to about 1.635 million units in FY2023. Srivastava expects the high double-digit growth momentum for UVs to also sustain in FY2024 with an estimated 1.93 million units likely to be sold.

Giving the surging demand, SUVs are likely to account for almost 45% of the overall passenger vehicle market, which is set to cross a new milestone of four million units in the next financial year. However, Srivastava believes market growth is likely to come down to a single digit of 5-8% due to several headwinds emerging on the horizon.

Inventory levels at dealerships are likely to cross 200,000 units by the end of February 2023 – this is the highest stock at outlets for the first time in almost two years. Factory supplies are improving, stocks at dealerships are nearing normalcy and the demand momentum is also sustaining. According to Srivastava, “One was expecting the booking momentum to slow down after the recent price increase, but the traction is still very strong and it will be interesting to see how the demand momentum continues after February.”

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