Maruti Suzuki VictorisMaruti Suzuki has reported its highest-ever festive kickstart with retail deliveries crossing 1,65,000 units in the first eight days owing to reduction in the goods and services tax and festive demand offers starting September 22, the top management said on Tuesday.
Festive season deliveries are expected to reach 2,00,000 units by the end of the period, according to Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, during a media briefing. He said that the company has received over 3,50,000 bookings, with about 2,50,000 pending deliveries.
India’s largest automaker is witnessing its most robust festive season performance in the past decade across all segments — small cars, hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs, and MPVs.
However, the company’s domestic sales fell 8.3 per cent to 1,35,711 units in September, largely due to a logistics bottleneck amid high demand, which the company expects to resolve by October 10.
“Trailers take 8–9 days to reach southern destinations and another 8–9 days to return, creating an 18–20-day cycle. Vehicles dispatched on the first day of Navratri are still in transit, and we expect deliveries to normalise by October 10,” said Banerjee.
Segment performance
The recently-launched Victoris has emerged as a strong performer, with a waiting period of about 10 weeks and over 25,000 bookings so far. The Grand Vitara continues to attract strong demand, receiving over 500 bookings per day during the festive period.
Overall, the SUV segment recorded a 32 per cent rise with 1,32,820 units sold in September, compared with the April–August average, Banerjee noted. Small cars also made a strong comeback, with bookings up 50 per cent year-on-year across key cities.
Indian automakers are witnessing strong momentum this festive season, driven by pent-up demand from August and festive offers launched in September.
On track to achieve 4 lakh exports target
Exports, too, have shown significant growth, rising 52.2 per cent to 42,204 units in September. The company’s recently initiated EV exports from its Gujarat plant contributed 6,068 units during August and September.
“We are on track to achieve our forecast of 4 lakh units of exports for the year,” said Rahul Bharti, Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki India. The company has already crossed 2.7 lakh units in exports so far this fiscal.
Maruti Suzuki also reported record exports to South Asia, touching 1,120 units.
