The company intends to offer new utility vehicles priced between Rs 5.5 lakh and Rs 30 lakh in the next few years; over 80% of its future product launches will be in the UV space.
14 Jan 2025 | 7098 Views | By Ketan Thakkar and Ashutosh Radhey Shyam
The country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki – which lost its status as the maker of India’s No.1 car last year due to a surge in SUV sales – plans to launch close to half a dozen utility vehicles in the next two to three years. Over the next five years, ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
The country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki – which lost its status as the maker of India’s No.1 car last year due to a surge in SUV sales – plans to launch close to half a dozen utility vehicles in the next two to three years. Over the next five years, the company’s portfolio may see 10 new models including upgrades to existing models.
The launch pipeline includes models ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, and these utility vehicles will have various powertrains, including petrol, CNG, hybrid, and EV.
The calendar year 2025 starts with the launch of the e Vitara mid-size SUV EV, followed by the company’s most premium SUV to date, internally called Y17, in the second half of 2025. The e Vitara will take on the Tata Curvv, Mahindra BE 6, and the yet-to-be-launched Hyundai Creta EV, while the Y17 model will challenge the Mahindra XUV 700.
In 2026, an electric MPV based on the e Vitara SUV architecture will hit the roads, followed by a subcompact or entry SUV codenamed Y43 to challenge the Tata Punch.
Two more subcompact utility vehicles are planned for 2027. A model known internally as YDB, based on the Suzuki Solio, is planned to offer an alternative to the Renault Triber in the market, and YK9, another subcompact SUV, may be based on the Suzuki Hustler.
An email sent to Maruti Suzuki did not elicit any response.
Given the five- to six-year lifecycles of car models, upgrades are planned for the Fronx, Ertiga, XL6, and Grand Vitara in 2028. This will ensure that Maruti Suzuki floods the market with a new range of SUVs and MPVs to expand the choices for prospective buyers moving to competitive models.
On the investment side, Maruti Suzuki has lined up a budget of over Rs 1 lakh crore in the coming decade. This will fund capacity expansion through various new models and ensure the company stays relevant to changing market dynamics. Interestingly, the responsibility for launching several of these new models are being assigned to the Indian R&D base, which will ensure lower-cost products tailored to Indian market needs and quick time to market.
The investment is not in top hats or body styles alone, but it is in different, cleaner powertrains—biofuel, ethanol, CNG, hybrid, and electric vehicles—and conventional petrol-driven cars.
With rising input costs and higher costs to meet regulations, the hatchback segment, especially at the entry level, has shrunk dramatically, severely impacting the company’s market share.
Given the falling hatchback market, Maruti Suzuki's market share is currently down to 40-41%, its lowest in almost a decade. At the end of 2024 – utility vehicles accounted for close to 70% of the market. The company has a share of about 27% in this space.
However, the company dominates the non-UV space in the country. In the car segment—i.e., hatchbacks and sedans—Maruti Suzuki has a share of over 67%, and in the van segment, the company has over 90%.
In an earlier interview with Autocar Professional, Hisashi Takeuchi, MD and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India, indicated that the company does not have enough SUVs and that there are gaps to fill. Maruti had only four in the market, out of the 55 SUVs on sale.
Interestingly, its upcoming hatchback EV, called Kei EV internally, is also a tallboy, SUV-ish, boxy vehicle aimed at entry-level EV buyers.