Ahead of the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara's launch later this month, Maruti has announced that the midsize SUV has already racked up over 53,000 bookings since it opened on July 11. Our dealer sources have also revealed that the waiting period for the Grand Vitara, depending on the variant, will stretch up to five and a half months upon launch. 

• Maruti Suzuki to launch Grand Vitara in last week of September
• Strong-hybrid variants account for 43 percent of total bookings
• Brezza and Baleno's order backlog also increasing

Grand Vitara to add to Maruti's huge order backlog

Maruti Suzuki currently has a cumulative order backlog of 4.17 lakh vehicles, up from 3.87 lakh units a month ago. The fact that the Grand Vitara has already garnered more than 53,000 bookings, even before its price announcement, suggests that it will only add on to Maruti's order backlog. The company also revealed that they are seeing healthy demand for the strong-hybrid variants, which account for 43 percent or 23,000 units of the total bookings accumulated.

The other models that are racking up the order books are the Brezza, with an order backlog of 70,000-odd units as of end-August, while the Baleno has 38,000 pending orders. Together they make up 26 percent of the total order backlog. 

Manufacturing capacity utilisation at Maruti is currently at 94 percent across its plants in Gurgaon, Manesar and the parent Suzuki Motor Corp-owned facility in Gujarat. Models such as the Wagon R, Swift, Baleno and Ertiga are the prime contenders occupying the maximum waiting periods.

CNG models account for 30 percent of pending orders

Maruti Suzuki continues to witness strong demand for CNG versions of the Alto, S Presso, Wagon R, Celerio, Dzire, Ertiga, Eeco, and more recently, the Swift. Of the carmaker’s current order backlog of 4.17 lakh units, CNG variants account for 30 percent or around 1.25 lakh units. This has marginally reduced from what was 33 percent last month.

Upcoming Maruti Suzuki launches: 2022 and beyond

Following the launch of the Grand Vitara, Maruti Suzuki is also readying an all-new coupe-style SUV based on the Baleno (Codename YTB) and is also expected to introduce the five-door Jimny in India sometime next year.