Maruti Suzuki India is operating with dealer inventory of around 16 days as demand remains strong, with the carmaker expecting its newly commissioned production capacity to take another three to four months to fully ramp up.
Speaking to Autocar Professional on the sidelines of the SIAM Annual Convention 2026 in New Delhi, Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, said the company’s network stock has remained lean since April.
“I’m not happy with the inventory levels in a different way, that my network stock is very low. I’m operating at just 16 days since April,” Banerjee said.
The low inventory comes as Maruti Suzuki heads into the crucial festive period, although Banerjee stopped short of describing the situation as a supply concern. The company, he said, is calibrating production and supplies across models to prevent waiting periods from rising disproportionately for individual vehicles.
New Production Lines to Add 500,000 Units of Annual Capacity
Maruti Suzuki has already commissioned two new production lines, which together will eventually provide annual capacity of around 500,000 units. However, Banerjee said it would take time for the lines to reach their full production potential.
“Despite the two new lines commissioned, it takes time to reach full capacity. So another three-four months we will have this challenge,” he said.
Brezza Bookings Cross 60,000 Units in a Month
Demand for some models is adding to the pressure. Banerjee said the recently launched Brezza has accumulated more than 60,000 bookings within a month, making it difficult for the company to fulfil the entire order book immediately.
GST 2.0 Fuels Demand for Entry-Level Cars Like WagonR, Alto
The company is also seeing stronger demand at the smaller end of the passenger vehicle market following GST 2.0. According to Banerjee, the segment attracting 18% GST is growing at around 30%, compared with approximately 20% growth for vehicles falling under the 40% slab.
He said WagonR recorded retail sales of close to 21,000 units last month, while Alto was at around 10,000 units, volumes that Maruti Suzuki had seen five to six years ago.
Festive Season and FY2026 Sales Outlook
Banerjee also cautioned against judging this year’s festive performance on individual months because of differences in the festive calendar. He said September-November should instead be considered as a single comparable period.
Maruti Suzuki expects the broader Indian passenger vehicle industry to close the financial year at around 5.3-5.4 million units, supported by the current monthly market run rate of roughly 450,000 vehicles.