The maker of the Swift and Baleno will be launching more than half a dozen products this year, people in the know said. Half of these will be in the fast-growing SUV space and the rest in its core area of small cars. An updated product range at Maruti Suzuki would mean its global alliance partner, Toyota Motor, too would spruce up its portfolio in 2022.
The new products could help the local unit of Suzuki Motor seize its lost market share, but also help the automaker reach the 2-million annual sales mark which has been alluding it for the last few years.
In the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal 2022, the company has produced 1.164 million vehicles, compared with 939,000 units in the same period last fiscal year.
While the performance so far has poised the company to post strong double-digit growth in FY22, the new launches could help is repeat the performance next fiscal year as well. A strong Maruti Suzuki, which sells nearly half the passenger vehicles in India, will also take the Indian market to strong growth.
The company did not offer any specific comments on the new product launches or volume growth plans. But in an email response to ET’s questions, senior executive director Shashank Srivastava said one of the key reasons for Maruti Suzuki’s continued dominance in the market was its strong product portfolio.
“We have been aggressively mapping customer needs and bringing products aligned with needs of the customers across segments,” he said. “Going forward, we will expand our portfolio across segments including SUVs; as pointed out by you it is a growing segment.”
According to several people in the know, there are eight new products including facelifts, refreshes and all new models which will hit the assembly lines in the coming 18 months. The biggest excitement will be around its jointly developed SUV, codenamed YFG, with Toyota which will take on segment leader Hyundai Creta. There is the all-new Jimny, which may wean away some of Mahindra Thar buyers, and a crossover based on the Baleno. There will be facelifts and mid-cycle upgrades of the Baleno, Ertiga, Wagon R. Another on the anvil is a new Alto 800.
The new models are expected to bring 10-15% incremental volume.
Historically, the company has launched only two-three vehicles a year, including facelifts, upgrades and new models.
This time, prior to the new Celerio launch in November 2021, it had not introduced a new model or upgrade for more than 30 months.
Its tepid presence in the SUV segment made a big dent on the company’s market share. Maruti Suzuki’s share in the SUV market is only 13%, while in the sedan, hatchback and MPV markets, it is more than 50%. In the entire passenger vehicle segment, its share dropped to 44.7% in December 2021 from 49% a year earlier.
Srivastava said supply side constraints, including shortage of electronic components, were among the reasons for the fall in market share.
“With pending customer orders of over 230,000 units and good inflow of bookings and reinforced product portfolio, we are hopeful of gaining it back,” he added.
