‘Car market growth uncertain but Maruti’s pole position certain’
Maruti Suzuki, India’s biggest car maker, which saw green shoots in sales during this festive season, says the outlook for the auto industry, the third largest employer in the country, was uncertain amid a Covid pandemic resurgence in Asia’s third largest economy.
However, the maker of popular Vitara Brezza and Swift models, continued to maintain pole position with over 50 per cent market share in the last three years and 51 per cent last month despite new rival entrants like Kia Motors eating into its segmental share.
Significantly, Maruti held on to market leadership with only petrol and CNG cars. It discontinued diesel cars from April 2020, because the BS-VI emission norms widened the price difference with petrol-run vehicles by about Rs 1.5 lakh. Also, the average price difference between petrol and diesel
fuel became less than Rs 2, fuelling demand for petroldriven vehicles.
The South Korean car maker Kia has emerged the fourth largest automaker within a year of entering the fiercely competitive car market, about 70 per cent of which is controlled by Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors.
The passenger vehicle market is now heavily depended on which direction the Covid-19 deadly virus containment and the GDP growth would move.
“The festive sales from Navratra on Oct. 16 to Diwali on Nov. 16 was marginally better than last year due to pent-up demand but going forward we have to wait and watch in which direction the economy will move amid the Covid pandemic,” Shashank Srivastava, executive director at Maruti Suzuki told Financial Chronicle in an exclusive interview. But the car maker would continue to be in the pole position, he averred.
The maker of popular Vitara Brezza and Swift models sold 2.32 lakh cars during this festival season, a tad up from 2.11 lakh units it sold in the same period last year, he said.
“Also, the 5 top car models continue to be from Maruti for several years even as 7 out of top 10 car models last month were from the Maruti stable,” Srivastva said, adding the company had a wide range of product portfolio from hatchbacks to sedans and SUVs to entice the buyers.
He said the hatchback segment accounted for 47 per cent of the market, but 65 per cent of it was controlled by Maruti.