Maruti Suzuki to end FY16 with 47% passenger vehicle market share

Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car-maker by volume, is all set to end this financial year on a high note. The Indo-Japanese company is expected to finish financial year (FY) 2015-2016 with a market share of 47 percent. This is the highest in the past 14 years and the company entered this FY with a 45 percent market share.

A report in the Business Standard says closest rival Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is far behind with a market share of 17.5 percent. However, this is the all-time high for the Korean manufacturer in India, which entered the current FY with a 16.2 percent market share. Together, Maruti Suzuki and HMIL enjoys passenger vehicle market share of 64 percent in India. 

Rest of the car-makers combined hold a 36 percent share and it is noteworthy that none of them registered a two-digit market share. Mahindra & Mahindra is at third spot with a market share of 8.26 percent. However, Mahindra & Mahindra focuses more on utility vehicles. 

Several global players, including General Motors and Volkswagen, though compete with Toyota to make a mark in the international market, their Indian market share is well below two per cent each. Another Japanese car-maker Nissan holds less than two percent market share. Among the top companies, Toyota, Tata Motors, Volkswagen and General Motors saw decline in market share this financial year due to various reasons. 

The dominance of Maruti Suzuki is not surprising since the Baleno hatchback launched in October last year pushed the sales to a great extent. The car received booking of over one lakh recently. In addition to this, Maruti Suzuki cars such as Alto, Swift, Swift Dzire and WagonR are the top selling passenger cars in the country. Maruti Suzuki's all-time highest market share was in 2000-2001 with 48.6 percent.