Maruti Suzuki’s premium brand, Nexa, was the fastest growing car retail brand in 2023, growing by over 50 percent in a market that has witnessed a moderate growth rate 8 percent. Led by its new range of SUVs – such as the Fronx, Jimny and Grand Vitara – the Nexa channel crossed sales of over half a million units’ sales in 2023 for the first time ever. The new launches added sales of about 25,000 units per month. This also helped Maruti Suzuki grab the SUV leadership in the first half of the financial year 2023-'24, almost doubling its SUV market share to 22 percent.
- Maruti Nexa sales outpaced Mahindra’s in 2023
- Nexa outlets increased to 478 in eight years
- Invicto sees six-month waiting period
Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer, sales and marketing at Maruti Suzuki, says, “With the enhanced portfolio of UVs like the Grand Vitara, Fronx, Jimny and the Invicto, Nexa not only helped Maruti Suzuki address new customer profile, but also was instrumental in doubling the market share in SUVs for Maruti Suzuki. In fact, in H1 of the current financial year, Maruti became the No. 1 SUV manufacturer.”
In a span of just eight years, there are now 478 Nexa showrooms in 293 cities across the country. Nexa was devised to cater to the aspiring Indian population, who have a desire to upgrade in life but do not want to give up on the brand’s core of value buying. Maruti Suzuki used Nexa to position itself as a value luxury brand and that has received a strong reception in the marketplace. Srivastava claims that these outlets cover 82 percent of the retail market in the industry and 95 percent of industry wholesales.
| Maruti Suzuki Nexa sales | |
|---|---|
| Year | Sales |
| 2015 | 40,829 |
| 2016 | 1,29,203 |
| 2017 | 2,94,731 |
| 2018 | 3,46,137 |
| 2019 | 2,69,131 |
| 2020 | 2,31,535 |
| 2021 | 2,80,209 |
| 2022 | 3,32,261 |
| 2023 | 5,09,290 |
Maruti Nexa line-up expansion
Along with the expansion of the network, the broadening of the portfolio has been a pivotal factor behind the steep growth. The models available at Nexa outlets have almost doubled in the last few years and it has been largely SUVs priced over Rs 10 lakh. Not surprising that the company has also been able to grab leadership in the upgraders space too – the Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh segment – with a share of over 22 percent.
To be sure, the average price points in the marketplace for the majority of vehicles sold in India has crossed Rs 10 lakh due to increased cost to meet the new safety and emission regulations, and the inflationary spikes in commodity prices.
During the year, the company launched its most expensive vehicle – the Invicto MPV – priced over Rs 25 lakh (on-road) and sourced from its global alliance partner Toyota. That model was only available with a strong hybrid powertrain, and it was received very well in the marketplace, with the model still having a waiting period of over six months.
The real impact of new models was only visible post June, once semiconductor supplies improved. In fact, for several months, Nexa sales were higher than Hyundai Motor India’s sales. The company has, in fact, set an ambitious target of making Nexa the second biggest automotive brand in the country.
In 2023, Nexa was the fourth biggest car retailer, after Arena (Maruti’s mainstream channel), Hyundai and Tata. It managed to outsell Mahindra in terms of volumes during the year. Considering average sales over the last six months, Nexa has been doing more retails than Tata, and with more models in the future – like the three-row SUV hitting coming in 2025 – Maruti is likely to see further growth on the volumes front.
Also see:
Maruti Suzuki readies Exter, Punch rival
Maruti Suzuki Jimny 5,000km long term video
Maruti Suzuki Fronx long term review, 5,000km report