It is this pecking order that Maruti may be looking to usurp with the new mid-sized SUV.Maruti Suzuki India is scheduled to lift the veil from a mass market, mid-sized SUV this week, which many have called a competitor to the segment leader Hyundai Creta.
The new product is coming just as competition has been intensifying in the SUV space and Maruti has been facing the heat vis-a-vis competitors such as Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, due to the latter’s SUV portfolio.
The hottest segment among passenger vehicles in the domestic market has been SUVs these last few years, as consumers moved towards premiumisation and look for enhanced safety features. This has meant a massive shift away from small cars, a segment where Maruti has traditionally held the lion’s share.
But while competitors brought in products in the micro, mid-sized and large SUV subsegments these last few years, Maruti has had to watch from the sidelines. The new product being unveiled this week, therefore, assumes importance, since it gives the company much needed arsenal in the escalating SUV war.
According to analysts who closely track the sector, while the micro or entry SUV sub-segment has been the fastest growing and now accounts for almost 58 per cent of the SUV pie, the mid-sized and large SUVs comprise the remaining 42 per cent.
The upcoming launch should go beyond simply narrowing the sales gap with Creta. Its real objective must be to close the perception gap and elevate Maruti into a credible, premium SUV brandRamnath E
Ramnath E, Team lead at automotive advisory Market&Markets, noted that Maruti’s share in the mid-sized SUV space with the Grand Vitara was 19-20 per cent in FY25, behind the 30-31 per cent share of Hyundai with Creta while Kia’s Seltos was at 10-12 per cent share. It is this pecking order that Maruti may be looking to usurp with the new mid-sized SUV. He said “The upcoming launch should go beyond simply narrowing the sales gap with Creta. Its real objective must be to close the perception gap and elevate Maruti into a credible, premium SUV brand”.
A long time Maruti dealer said the Grand Vitara faces tough competition from Toyota due to its pricing while another analyst, who has been closely tracking the automobile sector, said he expected the new SUV to be priced “aggressively” and positioned “sharply” and help Maruti gain some market share in the mid-sized SUV sub-segment.
While product details could not be confirmed, industry watchers said the new SUV would likely come with a 1500 cc engine displacement in petrol, CNG and strong hybrid options and aggressive pricing. The new vehicle is also expected to be retailed through the Arena channel instead of the premium Nexa distribution channel.
To compete effectively, Maruti must also offer a diesel variant or a high performance turbo petrol alternative. It is the absence of these options which limits the appeal of the Grand Vitara, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 marketsRamnath E
Tilt away from small cars
In FY25, the Utility Vehicle (UV) segment continued to grow at a scorching pace, accounting for 65 per cent share of the entire passenger vehicle market. In other words, two in three passenger vehicles sold in the domestic market last fiscal were UVs.
This is a big leap from the 21 per cent share of UVs a decade back. This trend has continued in FY26 as well, with the small car segment shrinking further. Maruti has been championing the small car cause, pushing for lower GST rate on these cars (which are less than 4 metres in length and have engine displacement of either 1200 petrol or 1500 cc diesel) and seeking easier emission norms for this category.
According to data from their respective annual reports for 2024-25, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) reported UV volume surge by a fifth or nearly 20 per cent and its market share in SUVs increased by more than two percentage points to 22.5 per cent.
Hyundai’s domestic SUV sales grew by 11.4 per cent year-on-year last fiscal while Tata Motors’ UV sales also grew by 11.4 per cent, with the entry SUV Punch becoming India’s number one SUV in FY25.
In the same period, Maruti said that its share of SUVs in its domestic sales climbed to 28 per cent from 25 per cent. The analyst quoted above said that while Maruti is the largest car maker by sales volume, it lags competitors in the SUV space and it is this lag which ought to get corrected through the new SUV.
Also Read: Maruti Suzuki domestic sales dip 7% to 144,145 units in August
“We need to see how the new SUV will be differentiated from the Grand Vitara in terms of pricing and features. I can see some cannibalisation of the Grand Vitara by the new SUV but it is unlikely that the new product will create an entirely new sub-category, something we have come to expect from Maruti,” this analyst said.
Another analyst said that while the combination of the new product and Grand Vitara will certainly offer Maruti a chance to increase its SUV share, “beating volumes of Hyundai Creta will be tough.” So, whether the Creta can be challenged remains to be seen.
Ramnath pointed out that “Creta’s strength lies in its wide powertrain choices, with manual and automatic options across trims. To compete effectively, Maruti must also offer a diesel variant or a high performance turbo petrol alternative. It is the absence of these options which limits the appeal of the Grand Vitara, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 markets.”
