Maruti Suzuki wants to regain 50% market share with the Maruti Ignis - Report

The mini crossover could be Maruti's volume driver this year.

Maruti Suzuki enjoys the highest market share of 47% in the passenger car segment in India. According to a report from Business Standard, with the launch of the Maruti Ignis last week and the Suzuki Motor Company's Gujarat plant inauguration next month which unlocks new capacity, the company aims to corner 50% market share in 2017-18.

The Maruti Ignis has been priced starting at INR 4.59 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and goes up to INR 7.80 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), and is available in petrol and diesel models in eleven different configurations. About 6,000 units were booked even before the car was launched. The car has a very high localisation of 98.5%.

The Maruti Baleno and Maruti Vitara Brezza have been highly successful and significant contributors to sales in 2016. Over 1,31,000 units of the Baleno and 80,000 units of the Vitara Brezza have been sold in India since their launch in September 2015 and March 2016 respectively. Suzuki's Gujarat plant coming on stream would ease the pressure on the Maruti plants and help lower the waiting period on the models above, which stretch to 6 months.

The Ignis, the third model to be sold exclusively at Nexa dealerships, is seen as yet another volume driver by as it creates a new segment, as per the company.

Also Read: Suzuki Ignis could be exported to South Asia from India

2017 will witness several launches from Maruti Suzuki. The year started with the Maruti Ignis, and further ahead, the Maruti Baleno RS, the Maruti Ciaz facelift, the next-gen Maruti Dzire and next-gen Maruti Swift are to come.

[Source: Business Standard]