Maruti Suzuki now owns one half of the Indian auto market

Maruti Suzuki accounted for one in every two passenger vehicles sold in India in January, achieving the feat for the second time this fiscal year as the automaker further consolidates its position at the top of the local market. Riding high on the success of premium hatchback Baleno and compact SUV Vitara Brezza, the local unit of Japan’s Suzuki Motor made 50.4 per cent of all cars, utility vehicles and vans sold in India the past month. The company’s market share was 45.9 per cent a year earlier, while its all-time high was 52 per cent, recorded in November 2016. The numbers are of dispatches from factories to dealerships — automakers in India don’t report retail sales. With the cash crunch post demonetisation easing and customers returning to dealerships, Maruti sent more cars to the dealers in the past month. As many as eight of the 10 top-selling models in the country had the Maruti Suzuki tag on them in January. Maruti’s sales rose nearly 26 per cent in January.