This is future of India’s automobile industry!

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Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) made a big turnaround in sales of utility vehicles. In just one year, utility vehicle sale of MSI more than doubled to 58,746 units in August 2023, from 26,932 units in August 2022. This happened because of growing preference for utility vehicles among the millennials.

Tectonic shift in auto sales:

India’s automobile industry is witnessing tectonic shift in sales pattern. Demand has shifted from entry level cars to utility vehicles. And Maruti Suzuki has been no alien to this.

In Aug ’23, MSI sold only 12,209 units of small cars like Alto and S-Presso. Just an year ago, the Japanese automobile manufacturer had sold almost double than this in Aug ’22. MSI had clocked sale of 22,162 units of small cars back then. The market share of MSI’s small cars in total sale fell from 16.52 per cent in August, 2022 to 7.82 per cent in Aug’23.

During the same period, both share and sale of utility vehicles almost doubled. MSI clocked sale of 58,746 units of utility vehicles in Aug ’23. In year ago period, the automotive company had sold 26,932 units of utility vehicles.

Utility vehicles constituted 20 per cent share in overall sale in Aug’22. This jumped to 37.63 per cent in Aug’23.

And this has happened with the entire automobile industry. According to an interview of MSI’s ED, Shashank Srivastava, with business news portal, ‘Money Control,’ the share of SUVs in the overall PV sale in India’s automobile industry has gone up to 49 per cent from 29 per cent few years ago.

Maruti Suzuki has ramped up launch of SUVs. MSI’s share in the SUV segment currently stands around 21 per cent. The Japanese automobile manufacturer has set a target of achieving 25 per cent market share in the SUV segment by FY24 end.

So much is the euphoria of SUVs, that, another automobile manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra’s entire PV segment comprises only of utility vehicles.

Currently, share of utility veicles is at 49 per cent and there is no doubt that more than half of total automobile sale will come from SUVs in time to come.