Maruti’s Alto, which was the largest selling car for 17 years, and the best-selling till 2019, had dropped from the top 10 bestselling cars list.
In 2023, Alto’s sales dropped 21.77%—from 162,548 units to 127,169 units (35,379 less Alto cars sold in 2023), and ranked 12th.
The top 10 cars of the year were Maruti Suzuki Swift (203,469 units), Wagon R (201,301), Baleno (193,989), Brezza (170,588), Tata Nexon (170,311), Maruti Suzuki Dzire (157,522), Hyundai Creta (157,311), Tata Punch (150,182), Maruti Suzuki Eeco (136,010) and Ertiga (129,968).
According to analysts, entry-level SUVs—whose sales grew from 758,762 units in FY22 to 1,002,864 in FY23— have eaten into sales of entry-level hatchbacks like the Alto.
“With a spate of sub-4 metre SUVs priced in the Rs 6-8 lakh range launched over the past few years, and buyers preferring SUVs over hatchbacks, sales of hatchbacks are dropping,” an analyst said.
“But possibly a bigger impact is pre-owned but much bigger SUVs such as the Creta, Brezza and Mahindra XUV500 taking away sales from brand-new small hatchbacks such as the Alto.”
In fact, according to industry body Siam, sales of entry-level hatchbacks (Maruti Suzuki Alto and S-Presso, and Renault Kwid) dropped a massive 42.6% during April-January FY24 (from 215,911 units to 123,895 units), even as the passenger vehicle market grew 8% (from 3,169,852 units to 3,422,686 units).
Despite the falling sales of the Alto, Maruti has no plans to phase it out. Analysts said that even though sales are dropping, small cars such as the Alto serve a very important function— keeping rural India on the move.