Maruti Suzuki India on May 13 launched two new variants of its compact SUV Fronx in the country, priced at Rs 8.93 lakh and Rs 9.43 lakh.
The Maruti Fronx ISS DELTA+ (O) 1.2L 5MT ESP variant will be priced at Rs Rs 8.93 lakh, and the Maruti Fronx ISS DELTA+ (O) 1.2L AGS ESP variant at Rs 9.43 lakh.
In January this year, Fronx had crossed the 1-lakh sales milestone in the domestic passenger vehicle segment in record time.
The model has crossed the milestone in 10 months, setting a new industry benchmark, the automobile major said in a statement. Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) had introduced Fronx in the domestic market on April 24, 2023.
"Fronx was strategically added to our portfolio to address the growing demand for another compact SUV that blends distinctive design with a captivating driving experience," MSI Senior Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales) Shashank Srivastava said.
The model has been instrumental in more than doubling the company's SUV segment share to 19.7 percent last year from 10.4 per cent in 2022
Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki reported its highest quarterly net profit in March, as sports utility vehicles drove an increase in sales and favourable commodity prices helped margins. Consolidated net profit of Rs 3,877.8 crore in January-March (fourth quarter of fiscal year April 2023 to March 2024) soared 47.8 per cent when compared with Rs 2,623.6 crore in the same period a year back, the company said in a stock exchange filing and media statement.
The company, in which Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation holds 58.19 per cent stake, sold 13.4 percent more cars in the fourth quarter at 5.84 lakh (including 78,740 units exported) while material cost as percentage of sales dropped 190 bps to 74.2 percent.
Maruti, however, does not share an exact number of SUVs sold. It sold 71.5 per cent more utility vehicles — mostly SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) — at 1.81 lakh. Utility vehicle share was 36 percent in the March quarter, up from 24 percent last year. For the full fiscal year (FY24), the company reported a 64 percent jump in net profit to a record Rs 13,209.4 crore. Sales were up 20 percent to Rs 134,937.8 crore in April 2023 to March 2024.
During the year, the firm sold 2 million cars.
The numbers “represent the company’s highest ever unit sales, net sales, and net profit both for the quarter and the financial year,” a company statement said.
Addressing a virtual media briefing here, the company’s Chairman R C Bhargava said it will start production of the first electric vehicle in the current fiscal.
“As far as EV is concerned, we will start production in this financial year. We have a commitment to export the first lot of cars to Europe,” he said.
The domestic market may not see EV cars in reasonable numbers this financial year… maybe in the next fiscal year, he said, while replying to a query.
The Board of Directors recommended highest-ever dividend of Rs 125 per share (face value of Rs 5 per share) for FY24 compared to Rs 90 per share in FY 2022-23.
(With Agency Inputs)
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