The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, which currently offers 16 passenger vehicles (PVs) with only two priced above Rs 20 lakh (ex-showroom), is not afraid of selling cars that exceed that threshold, according to the company's Senior Executive Officer for Marketing and Sales, Partho Banerjee.
Only the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV and the Maruti Suzuki Invicto MPV have their prices going north of Rs 20 lakh (ex-showroom).
While the Grand Vitara is priced between Rs 11.42 lakh and Rs 20.68 lakh (ex-showroom), the Invicto sits in the price range of Rs 25.51 lakh to Rs 29.22 lakh (ex-showroom).
For reference, the Grand Vitara has been co-developed by Suzuki and Toyota as part of their global partnership, with the latter selling the SUV in India as the Urban Cruiser Hyryder. The Invicto is a badge-engineered version of Toyota's Innova Hycross MPV.
During a select media roundtable, Banerjee said: "In 2011-12, the average price was around Rs 4 lakh for the PV industry. When we launched Nexa in 2015, we took it to Rs 8 lakh. Now, it is almost Rs 15-16 lakh."
"The base level of our customers has increased. As they move up, we will also move up. It is not that we are afraid of selling cars worth over Rs 20 lakh. Every company has its own set of customers. If I have more customers who are buying cars worth Rs 4-5 lakh, immediately they will not transition to Rs 20 lakh," he added.
Among Maruti's rivals, Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra & Mahindra have five models each priced above Rs 20 lakh (ex-showroom) or having variants over that price point, while Tata Motors has four.
Banerjee observed that Maruti does not have certain products in its portfolio. "If customers are looking for something that they are not getting from us, it is a different point. Let us try to accept that. If they want to buy a product in that range (above Rs 20 lakh) and we do not have that, we wish them the best," he said.
Maruti sells its cars via Arena and Nexa channels. Among the Arena models are the Alto K10, S-Presso, Eeco, Celerio, WagonR, Swift, Dzire, Brezza and Ertiga. The Nexa models include the Ignis, Baleno, Fronx, Jimny, Grand Vitara, XL6 and Invicto.
In 10 years, Maruti has sold 32 lakh cars from its Nexa outlets. The company has also introduced a special edition of the Grand Vitara, called Phantom Blaq, to commemorate a decade of Nexa.
The company will launch two new SUVs this year. One will be an internal combustion engine (ICE) model, to be launched on September 3 and sold from Arena outlets. The other will be Suzuki's first electric vehicle (EV), the e Vitara, which will be retailed from Nexa outlets.
Talking about the EV segment, Banerjee said that it is growing, but on a low base. "Buyers still do not go for EVs as their primary car. There are still a lot of inhibitions, related to range and charging infrastructure," he noted.
According to data from the industry body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), the electric models accounted for merely 2.6% of the total PV volumes in the domestic market in FY25. However, the penetration grew to 4.7% in July 2025.
Banerjee pointed out that 95% of EV owners still charge at home, as the cost is significantly lower at Rs 7-10 per kWh compared to the Rs 20-21 per kWh they would have to pay at public charging stations.
"They are charging outside only in emergencies. So it is not a viable business," he said, adding that till the time there is adequate infrastructure, customers will not be comfortable, and EVs will not become primary cars.
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