Maruti expects increase in SUV mkt share this fiscal

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki expects substantial increase in its market share in the sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment this fiscal with the new Brezza and Grand Vitara receiving robust response, according to a senior company official.

The auto major also plans to introduce more models in the SUV segment in the remaining part of the financial year. "In July we were at 7.1 per cent (market share) in the SUV segment...it increased to 10.8 per cent in August, 13.01 per cent in September and 14.4 per cent in October.

So it is showing an increasing trend," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Senior Executive Officer Marketing & Sales Shashank Srivastava said in an interaction. He noted that the market share would have increased further if the company had not faced supply issues with Brezza last month. "I would not like to project a going forward figure but can safely say that we are expecting a good increase (in market share) this fiscal as we expect to launch a few more SUVs," Srivastava said.

He noted that the gain would help it regain market share in the overall passenger vehicles segment. "Strengthening SUV segment is an important part of our strategy to regain the overall market share which we lost due to non presence in the SUV segment," Srivastava said. MSI, which did not have a credible presence in the mid-size segment, had ended last fiscal with a market share of 10.9 per cent in the SUV space.