5 days ago
Maruti eyes 4 lakh exports to offset domestic slump
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Kolkata: Maruti Suzuki has set a target of 4 lakh exports in 2025-26, a 20% growth over the 3.3 lakh cars it exported in 2024-25. Exports this May were 80% higher than last May. Aggressive exports helped the company overcome sluggish domestic sales, to record 3% overall sales growth.
Domestic sales were down 5.5% in May as mini and compact car sales continued to slide, impacted by both the rise in prices of entry-level vehicles as well as due to sales taking a hit in key northwestern markets amid the conflict between India and Pakistan.
Rahul Bharti, Maruti Suzuki's senior executive officer (corporate affairs), said the aggressive exports strategy compensated for the slowdown in the domestic market where industry retail sales were down 4%, according to Vahan figures.
In April and May, Maruti Suzuki exported 59,130 cars. South Africa was the largest market, accounting for 27% of exports, followed by Japan at 16% and Chile at 11%.
Maruti Suzuki exports to 100 countries. Fronx, Jimny, Baleno, Swift, Ertiga are the top export models. Once the company starts manufacturing the eVitara, it will export the car to Europe and Japan.
The company has raised its exports over the past few years.
It exported 2.4 lakh cars in 2021-22, 2.6 lakh cars in 2022-23, 2.8 lakh in 2023-24 and 3.3 lakh in 2024-25.
The 4 lakh export target was higher than the 3 lakh sales clocked by Toyota Kirloskar, the fifth-ranked automaker in India, in 2024-25.
In the domestic market, the three most sold cars in May were all Maruti Suzuki products: Dzire, Ertiga and Brezza. Even though sales this May were 5.5% lower than in May 2024.
Senior executive officer Partha Banerjee attributed the decline in sales to the rise in the cost of entry-level cars, due to regulatory compliance, that made them unaffordable for a large section of potential customers.
The mini segment is down 31.6%, with sales crashing from 9,902 units in May 2024 to 6,776 in May 2025. The compact segment also took a hit with sales down 11%, from 68,206 in May 2024 to 61,502 in May 2025.
"The India-Pakistan conflict in May impacted sales in the border states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir that contribute 22% to the company's sales pie. Many customers who took finance have not taken deliveries. Sales of vehicles to tourist taxi operators have also taken a hit," Banerjee said.
