Maruti Suzuki’s Swift hatchback once a popular seller, is now witnessing a downward trend in recent months. Last month has in particular has been the worst for the model with a 48 per cent drop in sales in comparison to the same period last year. Maruti Suzuki reportedly sold about 9,033 units last month in comparison to 17,313 units sold in June last year.
On the forefront though the Swift hatchback seems to be severely affected, other models like Alto, Dzire, WagonR and Celerio from Maruti have also witnessed a marginal drop in June sales. One of the reasons for this drop in sales is attributed to the May 29 fire at the supplier Subros factory that disrupted deliveries for air-conditioner compressors. Apart from this, the sales for Swift has also been affected with more customers opting for the Baleno that comes with more features and the recently launched Vitara Brezza.
Maruti Suzuki’s Swift hatchback has been present in the Indian market for quite sometime now without receiving any major upgrades except for a mild facelift variant that was recently launched. On the other hand, though the Baleno borrows the same petrol and diesel engine from the Swift, it offers an entirely new design and standard safety features like front airbags and ABS with EBD. Being offered via the premium Nexa outlets, the Baleno has been successful in luring the car buying lot.
Among Maruti’s line-up in India, the Ritz hatchback witnessed a 250 per cent growth with 4682 units sold in June 2016 in comparison to the 1337 units sold in June last year. As reported by sources, this increase in Ritz sales is primarily due to more demand from the commercial users as the Wagon R is no longer officially available for commercial purpose.