Maruti Suzuki India, which is gearing up to launch the updated versions of its multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) like Ertiga and XL6, is hopeful of retaining its leadership status in the segment in FY23 with over 60% market share, according to a senior company official.
The new Maruti Suzuki Ertiga will be introduced on April 15, while the new Maruti Suzuki XL6 will enter the market on April 21.
“Our market share is just above 60% for MPVs. We are hopeful that in FY23 we will be able to retain the large market share that we already have in this segment,” Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director, marketing and sales, Maruti Suzuki India, told FE.
“This segment (MPV) roughly is about 20,000-22,000 units a month, out of which 13,500 units come from Maruti Suzuki India, with Ertiga contributing 10,000 units and XL6 around 3,500 units. We are expecting a similar sort of range in FY23,” he added.
The industry-wide MPV volume stood at around 259,000 units in FY22 and with sales of nearly 156,000 units, Maruti Suzuki India’s market share in the segment was a little over 60%. In comparison, while the MPV volume for the industry was 200,854 units in FY21, Maruti Suzuki India had a market share of 57% with sales of 114,403 units.
Apart from Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Maruti Suzuki XL6, MPV segment includes models like Toyota Innova Crysta, Renault Triber, Mahindra Marazzo, Kia Carens and Kia Carnival.
CNG variants contribute 45% to the overall volume of Ertiga, according to Maruti Suzuki India. At present, XL6 does not have a CNG option.
When asked if the rising CNG prices would impact the company’s volume, Srivastava said that even with increased prices, there is a big gap in the prices of petrol and diesel, and CNG.
As many as nine vehicles of Maruti Suzuki India, including Alto, S-Presso, Eeco, WagonR, Celerio, Dzire, Ertiga, Super Carry and Tour S, have a CNG option. Last month, FE had reported that the company is planning to launch a CNG variant of its popular selling premium hatchback Baleno. Among rivals, Hyundai Motor India sells four CNG models – Santro, Grand i10 Nios, Xcent and Aura – and Tata Motors sells two – Tiago iCNG and Tigor iCNG – at present.
“The running cost for CNG vehicles now is around Rs 1.85 per kilometre as compared to Rs 5.20 per kilometre for petrol and diesel vehicles. There is a big variation between the running costs. Though the CNG prices have increased, the gap is so large that we think the preference of consumers for CNG will continue,” Srivastava said.
CNG vehicles contribute 8% to the overall passenger vehicle sales in terms of volume. For Maruti Suzuki India, they now account for about 17% of the total sales. The company had sold around 163,000 units of CNG cars in FY21. The sales increased 44% to 235,000 units in FY22.
With the semiconductor shortage impacting the production of cars, Maruti Suzuki India has almost 300,000 pending bookings now. While Ertiga has 102,000 pending bookings, XL6 has close to 6,500.
“Our production was limited last year due to the semiconductor shortage. The constraint will continue in this quarter (Q1 FY23) as well,” Srivastava observed.
