Maruti Suzuki to launch 3 SUVs to boost its sales

2007 Suzuki XL7 SUV – FrontView (*Image used for representational purpose only)

Maruti Suzuki has a huge line-up of vehicle in its portfolio right from small and affordable cars like Alto to premium cars like SX4 and also a couple of MUV’s like the Ertiga and WagonR. Although these cars fetch a good sales number, but Maruti is still lagging in terms of the SUV sales. Currently there are only two SUV’s the Gypsy and the Grand Vitara and both these are not attracting the number of customers with compared to other SUV’.

Maruti is has been greatly relying on its car segment, and hence the current slowdown in the car segment has affected Maruti share to lower than 40%. SUVs make up for almost 21% of the total market share and that’s the reason manufacturers likes Mahindra, Renault and Ford totally rely on their SUVs for a good sales number. In an interview with Financial Express, Mayank Pareek, COO for Marketing & Sales, said, “I am always asking the engineering guys to quicken their work on SUVs, it is the need of the hour. I expect to see a 3-4% jump in our market share once we roll out our SUVs. Its among the fastest growing sectors today and accounts for about 21% of car sales and we are not present there, so we are losing out,”

To gain a grip over the slipping market position, Maruti Suzuki will launch 3 new SUV within 2014-2015. The first will be a SX4 based crossover (code name: YAD) with a higher ground clearance and will be equipped with a host of premium feature, the second will be a compact SUV (code name: YBA) and the third will be a premium SUV which will replace the Grand Vitara but will bear a lower-entry price tag. All these SUV’s will be available in both petrol and diesel option. Currently Suzuki is developing its own diesel engine, this can help further bring down the price of the diesel variant SUV.

Check out more pictures after a jump.

Also see – Maruti Suzuki XA-Alpha SUV launch scheduled for 2014 Auto Expo