After hatchbacks, Maruti Suzuki to hatch more SUVs

Chennai, July 1

After "hatching" several hatchback cars, India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd will focus on the mid-sized sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment, a senior official said on Friday.

The Maruti Suzuki's first midsize SUV 'hatchling' will be a hybrid vehicle in two variants - mild and strong hybrid. The car will be produced at the Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd's plant in Karnataka's Bidadi, the carmaker's Senior Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, Shashank Srivastava, said.

The SUV will be unveiled during the third week of July and mass production will begin from August, he said.

Srivastava said the company has a dominant presence (67 per cent market share) in the non-SUV segment but is lagging in the SUV market which is growing and also throwing up several sub-segments.

There are about 48 SUVs in the Indian market while Maruti Suzuki has a minor presence here.

"The upcoming hybrid SUV will be a game changer. We may discontinue the X-Cross model at a later stage," Srivastava said.

The car major will be focusing on the SUV segment with more new models in the future as new segments are emerging with the increase in sales volumes, he added.

"For instance, the lifestyle SUV market is emerging. We have identified many SUV subsegments," he said.

As regards the shortage in semiconductor chips, he said the planned production level is about 94-95 per cent.

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki sold a total of 155,857 units in June 2022. Total sales in the month include domestic sales of 125,710 units, sales to other vehicle makers of 6,314 units and exports of 23,833 units.