Maruti's market share slips below 50%, rivals on rise

Maruti Suzuki India, the number one car maker of the country which has been ruling the Indian auto market for more than two decades now seems to be losing its grip over the auto industry. The company's long held market share of more than 50% dipped to 47% (in terms of its sales) during Jan-Jun 2010. Company's market share was around 53 percent during the same period last year. 

The compact car segment, which accounts for a major chunk of Maruti India's domestic sales has been flooded with the launch of a series of news cars in India since last few months including Chevrolet Beat in January, Ford Figo and Volkswagen Polo in March. All of these models have and continue to receive an overwhelming response from the Indian buyers which can be considered a shift from the previously existed pro Maruti sentiment among buyers.

The coming month will be very difficult for the Indian auto giant as auto biggies around the world are gearing-up to mark their debut in the compact car segment. Many compact hatches are scheduled to hit the Indian roads in the coming months, including Nissan Micra in July 2010, Toyota Etios in December 2010 and Honda's new small car in March 2011.

However, to counter all these new entrants in the Indian market, Maruti is aggressively working on its capacity expansion plans. The company has recently stated that it is preparing  for a massive production capacity enhancement of 2.5 lakh units by the year 2012. To catch-up with the mounting order backlog of many of its best-selling cars in India including Maruti Swift and Swift Dzire, the company has decided to set-up stock-yards for its vehicles in different parts of the country so that the waiting period for these cars can be brought down.

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