Maruti Suzuki looks to enhance exports with upcoming new Dzire sedan

Maruti Suzuki India is targeting markets like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Mexico and other Latin American countries with its upcoming new version of compact sedan Dzire to accelerate exports as it eyes over 3 lakh units of overseas shipments this fiscal, a senior company official said on Wednesday.

In the domestic market, the company hopes to enhance its share in the sedan market amid the passenger vehicles market shifting towards SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles), with the new Dzire which is slated for launch next week.

"We have been growing (exports) at a rate of about 11.9 per cent in the first seven months of the financial year and we hope to continue on that momentum. So we hope to do more than about 3 lakh car exports within this financial year," Maruti Suzuki India Executive Director Corporate Affairs Rahul Bharti told PTI here.

In contrast, just about four years ago, the company's exports were below one lakh per year, he added.

"So, now we'll be doing about three times of that, and by the turn of the decade, we hope to multiply it another three times over to something like 8 lakh units a year," Bharti added.

Elaborating on the export strategy, Bharti said, "One of the biggest enablers of increasing export is more models in more geographies. So, we are adding the number of models, and we are adding the markets also." At the moment, he said, the company is exporting to Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Further, he said, "At some point in time, we will re-enter Europe and Japan also (with upcoming electric SUV eVitara)." With the upcoming new version of Dzire compact sedan, Bharti said, "We hope to increase our exports also because with the new sleek design, technologies, six airbags, as standard, it is being widely accepted in the market." He further said, "We have to increase the density in those (existing) markets. We will target markets like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Mexico, other countries in Latin America and maybe some markets in Southeast Asia also." The existing Dzire model was among the top three export models in October, he added.

On the domestic front, Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Partho Banerjee said the company hopes to enhance its share in the sedan market with the new offering.

Last year, the outgoing version of Dzire clocked over 1.6 lakh units, he said, adding that with the new offering coming in the company expects more growth.

"Every second car which is sold in the sedan segment (in the domestic market) happens to be from Maruti...We are, in fact, increasing our market share in the sedan segment," he asserted.

Banerjee acknowledged that with the SUVs growing faster, the sedan segment is shrinking but sedans will continue to have its market as SUV demand stabilises at some point in time.

Being the market leader we need to be present in all the segments.

"Our take is this, in each segment, we need to be present and offer products to the consumers. Let the consumer decide which form factor they want to go," Banerjee said.