Only 1 car in India has ever sold 5 million units

New Delhi,UPDATED: Apr 28, 2024 11:25 IST

If you think about India's best-selling cars, some models that come to mind are the Maruti Suzuki WagonR, Hyundai i10 (the entire family from i10 to Nios), Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai Creta, Mahindra Scorpio or for that matter, the Toyota Innova. However, there is one car that was on the top for a very long period. We are not talking about the Maruti Suzuki 800, which obviously is a legendary car. We are talking about another phenomenon, the Maruti Suzuki Alto.

Do you know that the Maruti Suzuki Alto is the only car in India to have gone past the sales milestone of 5 million units? Launched in 2000, the popular hatchback has clocked sales of nearly 5.06 million units till now.

This is a record that might not ever be broken! Why? The second largest-selling car, the Hyundai i10, is far behind at 3.3 million units.

The popularity of the Maruti Suzuki Alto can be gauged from the fact that it was the largest-selling car in India for 17 years between 2000 and 2022.

While the Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 was launched in India in 2000, the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 entered the market in 2010.

At present, only the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 is on sale. The Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 was discontinued in March 2023 as making investments to upgrade the entry-level hatchback to comply with the BS6 Phase 2 norms, which became effective from April 1, 2023, would not have been financially viable amid low volumes.

The Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 uses the 1.0-litre K10C petrol engine, which produces 67PS of maximum power and 89Nm of peak torque. The engine can be mated either to a 5-speed MT or 5-speed AMT. There is also a CNG option (57PS of maximum power and 82Nm of peak torque) with a 5-speed MT.

The Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 price starts at Rs 3.99 lakh and goes up to Rs 5.96 lakh (ex-showroom). It rivals the Renault Kwid and the Maruti Suzuki S-Presso.