Suzuki Baleno
Suzuki BalenoSuzuki

Small cars are the domain of India's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki. The Indo-Japanese firm has over half a dozen car models in the sub-Rs 10 lakh category and most of them regularly get featured in the monthly lists of top 10 best selling cars. The sales data for financial year 2016-17 so far shows Maruti Suzuki has extended supremacy in three other major segments as well.

Also read: Maruti Suzuki opens 200th Nexa premium dealership to sell Ignis, Baleno, S-Cross

The company has managed to crack the mid-sized sedan segment with its Ciaz, the compact SUV market with the Vitara Brezza, and the premium hatchback segment with the Baleno, according to ET Auto. Maruti Suzuki sold 53,644 units of the Ciaz from April 2016 to January 2017. The sedan not only outsold competitors like Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid but also recorded the highest growth in the C segment. During the same period, Honda City found 45,395 takers while only 13,246 units of Hyundai Verna were sold.

In the compact SUV space, Maruti Suzuki was one of the last firms to launch a vehicle. The Vitara Brezza was launched in March 2016 with only the diesel engine option. Despite being late for the party, it took the segment by storm. Maruti Suzuki sold over 88,537 units of the Vitara Brezza, significantly ahead of competitors like Hyundai Creta and Mahindra Bolero. Hyundai sold 77,897 units of the Creta from April 2016 to January 2017 while the sales of Mahindra Bolero stood at 54,205 units.

In the premium hatchback segment, Maruti Suzuki Baleno has emerged as the top player. The Baleno sold via Nexa dealerships found 96,720 takers in the first 10 months of this financial year. The sales of its rival Hyundai i20 Elite were at 86,722 units while Honda sold only 26,269 units of the Jazz.

Maruti Suzuki had announced that it will roll out 15 new products from 2015 to 2020. With the launch of newer models, the company may completely shed the small car maker tag.

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