(L to R) Hisashi Takeuchi, managing director & CEO, and Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer marketing & sales
KOLKATA: Even as other
automakers shift
their entire focus on the fast-expanding
sports utility vehicle
(SUV) segment,
Maruti Suzuki
on Thursday reiterated its commitment to the hatchback segment as well and said this segment would continue to grow in absolute numbers as India advances towards becoming a
developed economy
by 2047.
Arguing in favour of hatchbacks when every automaker has turned away from introducing hatchbacks and is launching only SUVs, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd managing director and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said small cars would remain relevant in India as the market expands and more people purchase cars.
Takeuchi was speaking at the launch of the fourth generation Swift, a premium hatchback that the company introduced in 2005 and is still going strong. Since then, 6.5 million units of Swift has been sold in 169 countries with India contributing to 46% or 3 million sales followed by 1.2 million in Europe and 70,000 in Japan.
Takeuchi also pointed to the shift within the hatchback segment with premium hatchbacks grabbing a dominant share of the pie. "At present, 60% of hatchbacks sold in the country are premium ones. Maruti's market share in the premium hatchback segment is 62%," he said.
While Maruti has multiple offerings in the premium hatch segment including Baleno, Fronx (that is is another iteration of Baleno), Swift and Ignis, only Hyundai Motor with i20, Tata Motors with Altroz and Toyota Kirloskar with Glanza and Taizor are present in this segment. Of these, the Toyota cars are rebadged Maruti Suzuki products.
Takeuchi said the company had invested Rs 1,450 crore in the 4th generation Swift, including engine and sheet metal dice at Suzuki Motors Gujarat plant where it will be manufactured for both India and overseas markets.
"The first million Swift cars were sold in eight years. It took five years to sell the second million. The car has not only stood the test of time but shaped a better legacy," said Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at Maruti Suzuki.
The Swift had killed the Hyundai Getz, a premium hatch launched by the Korean company just before Maruti Suzuki launched the Swift inspired by the legendary Hayabusa motorcycle. Though several automakers had tried to launch competing products, none other than Hyundai i20 had succeeded in raking in the numbers.
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