The Indian market has changed, and how. India’s highest selling cars are now SUVs, and hatchbacks have been edged out from top-selling spots. In keeping with this trend, the Maruti Brezza has raced to the top spot in August 2024 sales, selling nearly 20,000 units. Wholesale dispatches (cars dispatched by manufacturers to dealers) for the Maruti Brezza stood at 19,109 units, a whopping year-on-year rise of 32 %. The month-on-month boost in Brezza sales is equally significant, at a 31 % rise from 14,676 units. What gives?
Maruti Suzuki, like most other car brands, is going through a sales slowdown in India. This caused India’s largest car maker to go slow on car dispatches for the past few months as dealers began complaining about inventory build up.
Now though, the festive season is in full swing, and this is typically the time when car sales peak in the year. This is a reason why Maruti Suzuki has boosted Brezza dispatches to dealerships across the country, and this reflects in the compact SUV becoming India’s best selling car in August 2024.
Even otherwise, the Maruti Brezza is an extremely strong seller…
Picture this, the Maruti Brezza operates in a hotly contested segment with a single engine option that’s tuned to run on both petrol and CNG. The 1.5 liter-4 cylinder petrol motor on the 2nd generation Brezza puts out a modest 102 Bhp-137 Nm, which is far lower than what most other competitors in the segment offer.
There’s not diesel engine, even as an option, and there’s no electric powertrain as well. The engine of the Brezza gets two gearbox options – a 5 speed manual and a 6 speed torque converter automatic. Both gearboxes are available on the CNG version as well, making the Brezza the only SUV to be offered with a CNG automatic option.
Enter CNG
Now that we’re talking about CNG, this option has been instrumental in keeping Brezza sales so high. In fact, nearly 30 % of all Brezza SUVs sold in India are CNG powered, and the addition of this fuel technology has greatly boosted volumes for the SUV. The CNG powered Brezza is essentially a replacement to the diesel powered model, and both porivate car buyers and cab operators have bought the CNG powered models in large numbers.
While the Maruti Brezza finished August 2024 at the top of sales charts, a close second is another Maruti car – the Ertiga MPV. Like the Brezza, the Ertiga is available with both petrol and CNG options. In fact, it shares its engine and gearboxes with the Brezza. The Ertiga is not only popular among private car buyers but is also a huge draw among cab operators.
In August 2024, Maruti Suzuki dispatched a whopping 18,580 units of the Ertiga to dealerships across the country, and this represents the highest-ever monthly sales fot the MPV. Again, the Ertiga’s nearly 50 % jump in year-on-year volumes has to do with Maruti aggressively pushing stock to dealerships after having a few months of slow dispatches. On whether these aggressive dispatches result in actual sales remain to be seen. For now though, Maruti Suzuki has retaken the top-spot in sales numbers from Hyundai, whose Creta SUV dislodged the WagonR last month.
Hyundai Creta finishes 3rd in August
The Hyundai Creta finished in 3rd place in August, with 16,272 units being dispatched to dealers across India. The mid-sized SUV continues to be very popular, registering a 21 % boost in sales volumes year-on-year. Month-on-month, Creta sales has actually fallen by 3 %. Nevertheless, given the price point at which the Creta operates, 16,000+ units is a dream run for the SUV.
