Ertiga helps Maruti Suzuki become third largest utility carmaker in the country

Maruti Suzuki became the third largest player in the utility car segment with strong sales of their new MVP, the Ertiga. The country’s largest carmaker toppled Tata Motors to take the third spot in Utility car segment, behind Mahindra and Toyota. Maruti’s combined sales in UV segment grew ten-times to 13,327 units in April and May 2012 as against 1,317 units in same period last year.

The company’s UV profile consists of the Ertiga, Gypsy and Vitara – and of course, the Ertiga is the sole vehicle driving the numbers. Maruti is currently producing around 6,000 units a month, instead of planned 5,000 units; apart from above, it is also exporting CKD kits to Indonesia. The company has delivered over 13,000 units till date has over 30,000 pending bookings, with waiting period of up to 8 months.

The rise in Maruti’s market share has also had a direct impact on others – Mahindra’s percentage has dropped to 49.31 per cent, which was earlier at 56.64 per cent. Tata Motors with a range of utility vehicles including the Sumo, Grande, Safari, Xenon and Aria slipped to fourth with market share of 7.87 per cent - that was earlier 13.02 per cent. 

The Utility car segment has been growing exponentially thanks to efficient diesel models like the Mahindra XUV 500, new Toyota Innova and Maruti Ertiga. At the time when passenger car sales increase by mere 3 per cent to 3,31,580 units, UV segment expanded by 51 per cent to 52,725 units.