The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and XL6 MPVs have a combined order backlog of over 1 lakh units, confirmed Shashank Srivastava, executive director of Sales & Marketing at Maruti Suzuki, in a recent media interaction. The order backlog is primarily due to the supply chain crisis and production constraints that Maruti Suzuki has been facing for quite a while now.
- Ertiga was country’s bestselling MPV in FY2023
- Large chunk of pending orders also includes CNG variants
Maruti Ertiga, XL6 order backlog details
Having sold 1,27,679 units of the Ertiga and 36,423 units of the XL6 in the financial year that ended on March 31, 2023, Maruti Suzuki has a dominating 50 percent share in the entire MPV segment in India. In fact, the Ertiga was the bestselling MPV in the country in FY2023.
However, while demand for both MPVs has been strong – with the segment actually growing over the years – overall production numbers for the Ertiga have been a particular constraint, more so for the CNG variants. As of May 2023, Maruti had 68,000 pending orders for the Ertiga CNG alone, making up nearly 56 percent of Maruti’s CNG order backlog of 1,21,000 units. The XL6 and petrol versions of the Ertiga together constitute the remaining share.
The Ertiga’s waiting period currently extends up to 8-10 months at most locations while the XL6 can be delivered a little sooner with about 4-5 months of waiting.
Speaking of the growth of the MPV segment, Srivastava believes that the traditional lines between the SUV and MPV categories are increasingly blurring as buyers are looking at the overall experience of a three-row vehicle.
“It is no longer that only large families are opting for MPVs, but it also includes people who may be a young couple or even office goers. It’s not just a large family vehicle anymore, but it's also a vehicle for different lifestyles,” said Srivastava.
Maruti to enter premium MPV segment with Invicto
And while the carmaker continues to ride the growth wave of the MPV segment, it is soon going to go more premium with the upcoming Invicto MPV. This new flagship Maruti offering will be a badge-engineered Toyota Innova Hycross, and also the carmaker's most expensive model ever.
The Invicto will be priced over Rs 20 lakh, and this being a price range where Maruti has never operated before, it is expecting the MPV to be a low-volume product. However, as mentioned earlier, with the blurring lines between SUV and MPV segments and with flexible use cases, the carmaker is of the opinion that it is important to have a presence in this price range, and importantly, also offer customers a wider range of vehicles to choose from.
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