Despite hitting a fiscal year high, India’s passenger vehicle market leader sees flat sales after three years of growth. Strong sales of its SUVs, particularly premium Nexa models, have helped buffer the 8% decline in hatchbacks and the sole sedan. As a result, the UV share of Maruti Suzuki’s passenger vehicles has risen to a record level of 41 percent.
01 Apr 2025 | 1273 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
The good news for Maruti Suzuki India in FY2025 is that the 17,60,767 vehicles sold are its best-ever fiscal year sales. The not-so-good news is that this number makes for flat sales of 0.05% – just an additional 886 units more than the 17,59,881 units sold in FY2024.
Compared ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
The good news for Maruti Suzuki India in FY2025 is that the 17,60,767 vehicles sold are its best-ever fiscal year sales. The not-so-good news is that this number makes for flat sales of 0.05% – just an additional 886 units more than the 17,59,881 units sold in FY2024.
Compared to FY2024’s 1.75 million units, which were Maruti Suzuki’s best-ever domestic sales and a 9.52% YoY increase, FY2025 sales are a sobering number for the company in the face of slackening demand for hatchbacks and sedans, as well as increased UV competition from Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
Maruti Suzuki, which has the largest portfolio of hatchbacks in India, has felt the heat of the customer migration to utility vehicles. In fact, FY2025 saw three months of flat sales, four months of sales decline and only five months of growth.
The company had a tepid start to FY2025. While Q1 FY2025 (April-June 2024) at 419,114 units was a YoY increase of just 1%, Q2 FY2025 (July-September 2024) with 425,500 vehicles was down by a sharp 7% YoY. Q3 FY2025 (October-December 2024) with 431,020 units marked a revival, up 6% YoY. Q4 FY2025 (January-March 2025) with 485,133 units was an increase of just 1 percent. As can be gleaned from the 12-month data table FY2025 for Maruti Suzuki was made up of 3 months of flat sales (0%), five months of sales decline, and only four months of YoY growth.
Providing the sales charge, as it has been for the entire fiscal, has been the company’s SUV and MPV range. The seven-model utility vehicle (UV) portfolio, comprising the Brezza, Ertiga, Fronx, Grand
Vitara, Invicto, Jimny and XL6 has helped buffer the decline in overall sales of hatchbacks and sedans. In FY2025, a total of 904,909 passenger cars and sedans were sold – down a substantial 7.70% YoY (FY2024: 980,446 units). This translates into 75,537 fewer hatchbacks and sedans sold in FY2025 YoY.
For the past year or so, utility vehicles – SUVs and MPVs – have transformed into the firm growth driver for Maruti Suzuki, offsetting the 13% sales decline in Alto and S-Presso sales as well as the 7% YoY decline in demand for the six-car group of the Baleno, Wagon R, Swift, Dzire, Celerio and Ignis. The company’s total UV sales of 720,186 units, which is an increase of 11% YoY (FY2024: 642,296 UVs) and 97% over FY2023’s 366,129 units.
Proof of demand for Maruti Suzuki’s UVs comes from dispatches from its premium Nexa channel, which retails the popular Grand Vitara, Fronx, XL6, Invicto and Jimny. In the first 11 months of FY2025, Nexa retailed a total of 500,370 units, which makes for 31% of its 1,610,024 PVs and 76% of its UV dispatches between April 2024 and February 2025. March model-wise sales details have yet to come in. Total Nexa UV sales in FY205 should be around 550,000 units, slightly lower than the 5,61,050 units sold in FY2024.
UTILITY VEHICLE SHARE OF PV SALES JUMPS TO 41% IN FY2025
The increasing weightage of UVs in Maruti Suzuki’s overall passenger vehicle sales is clearly seen in the numbers. Between FY2023 to FY2025, there is a 13-percentage basis point increase in UV penetration level – from the 23% in FY2023 (366,129 UVs in 1.60 million PVs), the UV share of PV sales has jumped to 36.49% in FY2024 (642,296 UVs in 1.75 million PVs) and to 41% in FY2025 (720,186 UVs of the 17,60,767 PVs).
Will Maruti Suzuki India, like the rest of the Indian automobile industry, benefit from the substantial relief in income tax proposed in the Union Budget 2025-26? With zero income tax up to Rs 12 lakh, which translates into additional money available for vehicle purchase among other goods and services, India Auto Inc expects sales to improve in the coming months albeit with fingers firmly crossed.
On the flip side, like some other carmakers, Maruti Suzuki has also hiked its passenger vehicle prices by up to 4% from April 2025, a move which is likely to dampen demand in the interim before the festive season kicks in later in the year.
On the export front, Maruti Suzuki has had a record fiscal – the 332,585 passenger vehicles exported in FY2025 are an 18% YoY increase (FY2024: 280,712 units) and ensure that the company retains the No. 1 passenger vehicle exporter title for the fourth fiscal in a row.
Two moths ago, in January 2025, Autocar Professional had accurately forecast that Maruti Suzuki was set to take the No. 1 PV exporter title once again.
The company exports its vehicles to nearly 100 countries and sees Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East as its key markets. The Fronx and the Jimny 5-Door 'Nomade' SUVs, the latest models to be exported, have accelerated demand, particularly from shipments to Japan.
According to Maruti Suzuki, the Fronx, Jimny, Baleno, Swift and Dzire were the highest exported models in FY2025 and its top five markets were South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Japan and Mexico.
Commenting on the record exports, Hisashi Takeuchi, MD and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said: “FY2025 has been a landmark year for Maruti Suzuki in terms of exports. Aligned with the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ vision, we attained record exports of 332,585 units. This achievement once again cemented our position as India’s Number 1 passenger vehicle exporter. During the year, we commenced exports of the Fronx and Jimny 5-door to Japan and it is heartening that both models have received overwhelming response. This is a testament to India’s growing stature as a global manufacturing hub.”
He added, “As announced at Bharat Mobility Global Auto Expo, India is the global manufacturing hub of Suzuki’s first global strategic BEV, the e Vitara. In FY2026, we will initiate exports of the e Vitara to around 100 countries, including Europe and Japan.”