Maruti Suzuki’s Small Cars Surge, SUVs Lose Traction  

India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki’s compact car segment posted strong growth in July 2025 while its SUV lineup declined . The compact segment, which includes Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift, and WagonR, recorded 65,667 units, up from 58,682 units in July 2024—a 12% year‑on‑year increase. In contrast, Maruti’s SUV portfolio—comprising Brezza, Ertiga, Fronx, Grand Vitara, Invicto, Jimny, and XL6—saw sales decline to 52,773 units in July 2025 from 56,302 units in the same month last year, a 6.3% drop.

This surge in the compct segment comes at a time when the entry‑level and small‑car market has been under pressure for the last few years due to rising costs and a strong consumer shift towards SUVs. “We tried to come up with innovative schemes to revv up the segment. As a result, The numbers of WagonR have started moving up. In terms of bookings also, now the response is pretty good. With the festive season coming, we feel that people will be able to afford small cars because we’re providing the limited editions,” Partho Banerjee, Head of Sales and Marketing at Maruti Suzuki

This revival in compact cars has been partly driven by limited‑edition variants and festive‑season‑linked incentives, which appear to have nudged price‑sensitive buyers back into showrooms.

SUVs Lose Momentum

SUVs have been the growth engine for the Indian car market, now contributing over 55% of the industry’s volumes. Maruti’s own Brezza and Fronx continue to perform individually, but the company has faced stiff competition in the mid‑ and premium SUV space from Hyundai, Kia, Tata Motors, and especially Mahindra. 

While Maruti faced a slowdown in SUVs, rivals are thriving in this space. Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 20% year‑on‑year rise in domestic SUV sales in July 2025, totaling 49,871 units, with overall wholesales rising 26% to 83,691 units. Industry experts suggest that segment saturation and fewer fresh launches in Maruti’s SUV portfolio may have contributed to this dip, even as the overall SUV market remains buoyant.

“Coming to SUV’s the Brezza, Fronx, are doing well for us. The contribution of the SUV segment is going up because many new models are coming. This year till June, the SUV contribution of the industry was close to 55%. While the SUV market is growing, overall industry is not growing, it’s resizing of the segments happening which is not a good sign,” he adds.

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