Maruti Suzuki’s SUV share rises to 32%. Read how

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s sport utility vehicle (SUV) portfolio now accounts for 32% of total sales, underscoring the automaker’s accelerating shift towards the fast-expanding SUV segment.

“Five years back, we used to be around 12% in SUVs… Now, we are at 32%,” Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer of Marketing and Sales at Maruti Suzuki, told reporters on Tuesday.

Maruti Suzuki reported domestic sales of 1,80,078 vehicles in August, up 34.3% year-on-year, while total sales including exports stood at 2,19,250 units—a 21.3% increase. The company described August domestic sales as its highest-ever for the month.

The SUV segment was a key growth driver. Maruti Suzuki’s SUV volumes grew 41% year-on-year in the first quarter of FY27, accelerating to 67% in July-August as the carmaker ramped up production capacity at its new manufacturing lines in Gujarat and Kharkhoda.

The strong performance comes amid robust demand for its SUV range, including the newly launched Brezza. Launched on July 24, the updated model has crossed 50,000 bookings, with the company currently reporting a waiting period of around two months. Banerjee said demand is broadly balanced across its turbo-petrol, CNG and 1.5-litre petrol variants.

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The company’s green portfolio is also gaining traction, with CNG, strong hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) now contributing 44% of Maruti’s sales.

Beyond SUVs, Maruti highlighted broad-based growth across its portfolio. The mini segment has nearly doubled on a year-to-date basis.

The company’s total pending bookings stood at approximately 1,80,000 vehicles, while network inventory remained low at around 16 days.

The company surpassed the milestone of 1 million units in total sales within the first five months of FY27.

Banerjee expects the Indian passenger-vehicle industry to grow by around 10% in FY27, although growth rates in the second half are expected to moderate because of a higher base.

Exports remained strong on the demand side but were temporarily affected by a shortage of shipping capacity. Maruti Suzuki exported 33,844 vehicles in August, slightly below the year-ago period.

The company’s management said vehicles are available at ports, but international shipping vessels are not available to move them to overseas destinations. Despite the disruption, exports during April-August rose 14.1% to 1,88,636 units.

The automaker’s management remains confident that exports will exceed last year’s 4,47,000 units, citing its diversified presence across more than 120 countries.