The third-generation Maruti Wagon R, launched in January 2019, first as a 1.0-litre petrol model and then offered with CNG and 1.2L petrol engine variants, continues to have a sizeable fan following as a practical, spacious and easy-to-live-with urban hatchback despite the mega shift to SUVs.
09 Jul 2024 | 9559 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
Maruti Suzuki India continues to notch million-related sales milestones at a rapid pace this year. It all started with the Ertiga MPV which clocked a million sales in January 2024, then the 30 million production milestone in just over 40 years was achieved this April, premium brand Nexa surpassed ...
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Maruti Suzuki India continues to notch million-related sales milestones at a rapid pace this year. It all started with the Ertiga MPV which clocked a million sales in January 2024, then the 30 million production milestone in just over 40 years was achieved this April, premium brand Nexa surpassed 2.5 million sales in May, and the snazzy Swift drove past three million sales in June. The latest Maruti ‘millionaire’ this year is the New Wagon R, which has clocked cumulative sales of over a million units since its launch on January 23, 2019.
Six-year wholesales data for the new Wagon R, which has built a formidable reputation for itself as a spacious, practical, easy-to-live-with hatchback for reasonable money, reveals that FY2023 delivered the best sales – 212,340 units – in a 12-month period.
The New Wagon R was India’s best-selling passenger car for the third fiscal in a row in FY2024 (200,177 units, -5.73% YoY) and accounted for 11% of Maruti Suzuki’s total passenger vehicle sales of 1.75 million units. In the first three months of FY2025, the company has dispatched an estimated 46,312 Wagon Rs, down 15% YoY (April-June 2023: 54,618 units). This takes the cumulative total of the New Wagon R to 10,06,413 units, surpassing the million milestone.
The Wagon R, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has to date sold around 3.21 million units to date. The popular midsize hatchback, which was launched in 1999, had surpassed the 3-million mark in May 2023.
CNG variant expands reach
With the rollout of the third-generation model 66 months or a little over five years ago, Maruti Suzuki’s Wagon R growth story got a fresh charge, even as the company dropped out of the diesel market in April 2020. Since then, this hatchback has maintained year-on-year growth for fourth fiscals in a row albeit FY2024 numbers missed the FY2023 tally by 12,163 units.
Nevertheless, with 46,132 units in April-June 2024, the Wagon R is holding on to its rank as the best-selling Maruti in the ongoing fiscal. It is ahead of the Brezza (44,471 units), Ertiga (43,339 units), Baleno (41,786 units), Dzire (45,307 units) and the Swift (39,909 units).
Of the total 1,607,163 passenger vehicles the company has sold between April 2023-February 2024, the Wagon R accounts for 11%, clearly establishing the prominent role it continues to play for the company, despite the mega shift underway to SUVs in the Indian marketplace.
The Wagon R, which is built on Suzuki’s Heartect platform (shared with the Celerio, Swift and Baleno models) has two engine options comprising a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol which develops 68hp and 90 Nm of torque, and a more powerful 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol with 83hp and 113 Nm. Both engines have the options of manual and AMT gearboxes. The Wagon R 1.0 is also available with a factory fitted CNG kit, and this variant has become a strong growth engine for the model.
The Wagon R is available in nine variants, with pricing starting from Rs 637,000 for the base 1.00-litre LXi petrol through to the top-end 1.2-litre ZXi+ AMT which has a sticker tag of Rs 851,000 (both prices, on-road Delhi).
The Wagon R was one of the first Maruti Suzuki models to get the CNG treatment back in March 2010 and remains the best-selling CNG models for the company. Since then, Maruti has expanded its CNG car and SUV portfolio to 13 models (Alto K10, Baleno, Brezza, Celerio, Dzire, Eeco, Ertiga, Grand Vitara, S-Presso, Swift, Wagon R, XL6 and the Fronx) and has a vice-like grip on the CNG passenger vehicle market.
On the CNG retail sales front, between January-June 2024, Maruti Suzuki has sold 159,031 CNG PVs, up 34% (H1 2023: 118,903 units) and 57% of its CY2023’s total sales. Expect the Wagon R to have accounted for a major portion of this.
Flex-fuel Wagon R in the offing
When it comes to use of alternate fuels as part of its decarbonisation programme, Maruti Suzuki chose the Wagon R as the model that can run on an ethanol-petrol blend between 20% (E20) and 85% (E85). The BS 6 compatible, flex-fuel prototype car powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine has been designed and developed locally in India by Maruti Suzuki engineers, with necessary support from Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan.
The Wagon R Flex Fuel prototype vehicle, which has an upgraded engine designed specifically to use higher ethanol-blended petrol, has the potential to reduce tailpipe GHG emissions by 79% in comparison to a conventional petrol engine. It was showcased at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo in early February in New Delhi.