After establishing its dominance in the passenger cars segment, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is now leading in the Utility Vehicle (UV) segment too.
Maruti accounted for 28 per cent of UV sales during the period from April 2017 – January 2018, according to a report by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
The carmaker became the top player in the UV segment with its newly launched sub-4-metre car, Vitara Brezza. The model was launched 5 to 6 months back.
The company’s net profit increased to 23% in the first quarter of this fiscal year, riding on the new models, Baleno and Vitara Brezza.
The company's sale of UVs had reached 253,759 units in 2017-18, growing 29.6 per cent over sales of 195,741 units in the previous year, said Maruti Suzuki India in a filing, to BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange).
An MSI official said the growth of the company's UV segment had been driven by Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga with demand still continuing to be strong as some of the model have weeks of waiting period.
Maruti Suzuki senior executive director marketing & sales R S Kalsi said, "In recent years the company has systematically widened its utility vehicle portfolio."
"Sales of Vitara Brezza increased by 36.7 per cent in 2017-18, while it jumped by 44.4 per cent for S-Cross and 4.1 per cent for Ertiga," Kalsi said.
Shares of Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday ended at Rs 8,713.60 per scrip on BSE, down 0.70 per cent from its previous close.
Maruti Suzuki has hiked its new model’s prices up to Rs. 20,000 on Vitara Brezza and 10,000 on Baleno hatchback.
The Bolero has been the best-selling UV for the past 10 years, but it is struggling in the market with the arrival of Vitara Brezza, followed by Hyundai Creta.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), the homegrown rival, retailed a total of 2,33,915 units during the just ended financial year.
M&M, which sells popular models such as Bolero, Scorpio, XUV500 and TUV300, had been the undisputed UV maker in the Indian market till 2016-17 when it sold a total of 2,22,541 units as against 1,95,741 units by MSI.
