Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, MSIL
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a call for using alternative modes of transport such as electric vehicles (EVs) and CNG, the sales for CNG vehicles and EVs have grown sharply, with sales of around 78,000 units in May and 2X growth on EV bookings, said Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.“After the mandate given by our Prime Minister that we all need to focus more on EVs and CNG vehicles, we are so happy to share that we have been focusing on the CNG vehicles, and in May we have recorded highest-ever sales of around 78,000 CNG vehicles. In EV also, the bookings have increased to 2X after the announcement of the PM on May 11, and we are seeing healthy traction of our e-Vitara also,” Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, MSIL, told businessline.He said that Victoris has become the fastest vehicle to achieve 1 lakh sales in India within nine months of its launch. Targeted at Gen Z and youth, 40 per cent of the sales come from them, and 35 per cent of SUV sales come from first-time buyers.According to Jato Dynamics (automotive data, analysis, and intelligence provider), before Victoris it was Fronx by Maruti Suzuki that achieved 1 lakh sales in 10 months. Earlier, Tata Punch achieved the milestone in 11 months and Hyundai Grand i10 in 12 months.“Victoris has been the fastest model to reach 1 lakh sales in just nine months — not just within the SUV segment but across all segments — and it has been certified by Jato Dynamics as well,” Banerjee noted.Talking about growth in small cars and overall demand, he said the company was constrained by production even after full utilisation of the existing plants, but since the opening up of the two new plants — each one in Kharkhoda (Haryana) and Hansalpur (Gujarat) — the company is able to supply vehicles on time.“We were short of vehicles till March, but as soon as we started getting vehicles from the two new plants, we could sell over to our customers. But still we have pending bookings of 17 days with around 1.5 lakh units,” Banerjee noted.On asked about the fuel price hikes, he said consumers choose Maruti vehicles because they provide better mileage compared to other competitors.“We are doing well in all our segments, not only few models...Fuel price hike has an impact on car sales, but we are focusing more on CNG and electric vehicles, and further more our fuel efficiencies are the best in the industry. So, when the market is tough, the market leader always show the strength and we are living to it. There is a huge market for small cars, too, because several two-wheeler customers are upgrading to cars, and Indian car penetration is still at 34 per 1,000. So, there is a huge opportunity,” Banerjee added.Published on June 1, 2026
