Maruti Suzuki has witnessed major growth among its B-segment models for the month of March. Comprising the Swift, Celerio, Baleno, Ignis and the Dzire compact sedan, this segment of cars sold 60,699 units compared to 46,786 units in the corresponding period last year, thus resulting in a growth of 29.7 per cent.
Another major winner for the automaker was the UV segment which saw a total sale of 18311 units as compared to 13894 units in March 2016 resulting in growth of 31.8 per cent. This jump has no doubt been fuelled by the sales of the Vitara Brezza compact SUV which has clocked sales of 1.1 lakh units in its first year alone. With the demand for SUVs currently on the rise, we can no doubt expect the Brezza to increase its contribution to the overall numbers in the months to come.
Maruti Suzuki’s traditional A-segment volume models like the Alto range and the Wagon R saw a drop of 5706 units in March as compared to the same period in 2016 resulting in a negative change of -15.6 per cent. However, an observation in trends indicates that sales will pick up after two to three months. The Ciaz also reported negative growth with its numbers plunging marginally by 562 units resulting in a drop of 10.3 per cent. However, the Ciaz has now moved to the Nexa brand and this should help it gain numbers against its main rival, the Honda City.
Overall, the automaker managed to sell 1.27 lakh passenger vehicles in the domestic market as compared to 1.18 lakh units in March 2016 resulting in a growth of 7.4 per cent.