Maruti Suzuki has just recorded its best ever sales figures for a business year. The automaker sold over 16.5 lakh cars in India over the last 12 months (April 2017 to March 2018). This means that Maruti sold 4,530 cars every day, or 1 car every 20 seconds. This sales performance has given Maruti over 50 % of market share in India.

Sales were led by the entry-level hatchback – the Alto – and an affordable, best-selling compact sedan – the Dzire. Other cars such as the WagonR, Baleno, Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, Ciaz and the Swift have also doing exceedingly well for Maruti. In other words, Maruti does not have a single flop car on sale currently. This is something few car makers can boast of.

This year, the momentum is expected to continue due to Maruti’s big launches. The Swift, which was launched in February 2018, has already clocked over 1 lakh bookings. The car is expected to sell strongly at least for one more year, beating the Baleno and a lot of other hatchbacks in the market.

Category : Sub-segment Models March April-March 2018 2017 % Change 2017-18 2016-17 % Change A: Mini Alto, WagonR 37,511 30,973 21.1% 427,183 413,981 3.2% A: Compact Swift, IGNIS, Celerio, Baleno, Dzire, Tour S 68,700 60,700 13.5% 700,475 584,700 28.0% A: Super Compact D’Zire Tour — 1,166 — — 32,612 — A: Mid-Size Ciaz 4,321 4,700 -12.1% 58,700 64,448 -8.6% Total A: Passenger Cars 110,700 97,700 13.3% 1,234,571 700,591 12.7% B: Utility vehicles Gypsy, Ertiga,S-Cross, Vitara Brezza 22,700 18,311 24.3% 253,700 195,700 29.6% C: Vans Omni, Eeco 13,689 11,628 17.7% 155,137 152,009 2.1% Total Domestic Passenger

Vehicle Sales 147,170 127,695 15.3% 1,643,467 1,443,641 13.8% Light Commercial Vehicles Super Carry 1,414 304 — 10,033 700 — Total Domestic Sales 148,582 127,700 16.1% 700,500 700,541 14.5% Total Export Sales 12,016 11,764 2.1% 126,074 124,062 1.6% Total Sales(Domestic + Export) 160,598 139,700 14.9% 700,574 700,603 13.4%

An all-new Ertiga MPV will be launched during the festive season and that is expected to perk up sales of utility vehicles. Maruti is also bringing a 7 seat WagonR later this year. The Ciaz will be given a facelift to boost its presence in the C-Segment sedan market. Overall, 2018 promises to be as good as year or even better than 2017 for Maruti.

Maruti is now moving upmarket. It has come up with the NEXA chain of dealerships, which sell pricier cars and also give car buyers a more premium buying experience. In fact, NEXA has been so successful than the sales that come from this chain of premium Maruti dealerships is often a lot more than overall sales of many leading car brands such as Tata Motors and Mahindra. In future, Maruti will not only expand NEXA sales and service centers but will also launch more premium cars. The upcoming Vitara (Hyundai Creta rival) and a badge-engineered, next-gen Toyota Corolla Altis are two such premium cars Maruti will launch before 2020.