Indian automotive market has been witnessing a surge in the demand of Utility Vehicles (UV) like never before mainly due to launches like Renault Duster, Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Mahindra & Mahindra XUV500. This upward phenomenon in demand has forced the manufacturers in the country to increase their production capacity to 100 per cent in order to meet the demand.
The French car maker Renault is supposedly working very hard to meet the sky-rocketing demand for its Duster Compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). And it is expected that the company will take the output of the Compact SUV to double of the present figure. At the same time, the largest Utility Vehicle manufacturer in the country, Mahindra & Mahindra, is all set to increase the production capacity of the XUV500 by 25 per cent. The largest car manufacturer in India, Maruti Suzuki India Limited is also not too far behind. Buoyed by the success of its Ertiga, the car maker is working towards increasing the capacity as well. Notably, MSIL had recently doubled the production of the Ertiga to meet the elevating demands.
According to sources, Renault will be manufacturing around 7,500 units every month of Duster from January, 2013. Whereas, M&M will produce 5,000 XUV500 every month starting October, 2012. MSIL has already increased the capacity of Ertiga to 270 units from 140-150 units a day and is looking to improve it further. One of the main reason behind manufacturers running pillar to pillar to ramp up the production is that over 50,000 bookings of these vehicles stands pending.
Meanwhile, Renault was the main bearer of the pressure exerted by huge demand as its Compact SUV, Duster, recently went past the milestone of 10,000 bookings. The magnitude of the pressure being faced by the company is evident in the fact that the car maker is not increasing the capacity by a small measure but to a whooping double the figure. Duster was the first model in the slumping Indian automotive industry to gain massive response despite the hike in fuel prices and tax rates. Renault is now gearing up to face the heat as it is expected that the demand for the model will further surge during the festive season this year.
Mahindra & Mahindra XUV500 and Maruti Suzuki Ertiga too brought the sunshine back in to the sales figures of their respective car makers at the time when the overall market was gloomy. These models ramped up the volumes for their makers to generate decent sales figure despite the economic slowdown. The launch of these cars shifted the market inclination towards the SUV segment from sedans and hatchbacks, mainly owing to their competitive price tag. As a result the SUV segment of the Indian automotive market was the dominant and the fastest growing segment in last few months. The Multi Utility Vehicles (MUV) segment contributed 13-14 per cent to the passenger vehicle market of India during the FY12 and is speculated to grow at the rate of 20 per cent for next few years.
According to Chief Operating Officer, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Mayank Pareek, 58 per cent of the owners of small cars sold their vehicles over past five years to look for an upgrade. This is where the new generation of low priced Utility Vehicles made an appearance as the knight in shining armour, as there were not many options at the time.
With festive season just round the corner, it is believed that the Indian car makers will fetch good returns from the booming SUV segment of the Indian industry. Besides, auto makers will also offer a handful of freebies and goodies along with their models to lure the Indian buyers to capitalise on the festive demand.
![Maruti Suzuki Ertiga [2018-2022]](https://imgd-ct.aeplcdn.com/160x89/n/cw/ec/35211/ertiga-exterior-right-front-three-quarter-141879.jpeg?q=80 "Maruti Suzuki Ertiga [2018-2022]")
