Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the country’s largest car maker is planning to enter the fast growing market of the SUV segment when all the other players are moving into the segment of small cars and eating into its dominating market share. The company has plans to showcase this SUV at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo. A Maruti Suzuki executive has hinted on an SUV Concept being showcased at the upcoming Auto Expo. The SUV segment, though is fast growing, yet has a lot of potential. Currently companies like Mahindra and Tata Motors are the leading players in this segment with other players like Hyundai, Force Motors and others also slowly entering the segment. Maruti Suzuki till date has dominated the compact car sales market with cars like the Alto, WagonR and the Swift and hold a market share of around 45% till last fiscal. But with some much competition coming in, the market share has fallen down to 40% this fiscal. Apart from this, the production model of the MPV from Maruti, the RIII (Ertiga) will be unveiled at the Auto Expo. The car will be hitting the roads next year and will be competing against the Toyota Innova and the Chevrolet Tavera.

“The company will showcase a concept for an SUV in January at the Auto Expo in Delhi. The segment has grown significantly in the past few years and we want to have a presence there. It will take at least two years for the model to be production-ready. The details regarding engine and other specifications will be worked out soon,’ said a senior executive, who did not want to be identified.

However, Matuti Suzuki doesn’t have a diesel engine of its own which is going to make things challenging for the company. Suzuki has a tie-up with Fiat SpA only for the 1.3 litre diesel engines which is used to power the Swift, Ritz and the Dzire. Maruti Suzuki has’t taken a decision on developing a diesel engine due to lack of clarity on the government policy over deregulation of the fuel’s price, chairman R.C. Bhargava had said earlier. “We don’t know the government’s stand on diesel pricing,” Bhargava said. “We will have to act accordingly.”

Source – Livemint