Half of Dzire customers are first-time car buyers: Maruti

Maruti Suzuki has said that about half of the customers of its new Dzire model are first-time car buyers.

The compact sedan — which is on the verge of crossing the milestone of 1 lakh sold volumes in a record period of about five months since launch — has seen a substantial jump in terms of attracting first-time buyers.

The sales data suggested that more than 50 per cent of buyers opted for the new Dzire as their first car purchase. This is a sharp rise from sub-30 per cent two years ago. The sales trend also indicates a growing shift among car buyers who may now prefer a sedan as their first car over an entry-level hatchback.

Over the past two months, Dzire has been achieving record sales of more than 30,000 units in wholesale, which is the highest ever in Maruti Suzuki’s history for a single car brand.

“Like a category leader, it has not only expanded the share of Maruti Suzuki in the A3 segment, but has also expanded the industry’s A3 pie,” said RS Kalsi, Senior Executive Director (Marketing and Sales), Maruti Suzuki India.

During the first six months of this fiscal, Dzire’s segment (lower category A3 segment) has grown about 5 per cent, while Dzire has registered a growth of 10.5 per cent.

The company said its auto gear shift (AGS) technology in the new Dzire is also gaining momentum as little less than a fifth of Dzire customers chose AGS variants during April-September 2017.

Kalsi said that apart from those features, better fuel efficiency was also a key factor in Dzire attracting more buyers.

Dzire has secured about 55 per cent market share in the lower A3 segment during the April-September 2017 period, up from 52 per cent a year ago.

The second-largest selling brand in this segment is Hyundai Xcent, which has secured about 11 per cent share, followed by Tata Tigor (7 per cent), Figo Aspire (6 per cent) and Honda Amaze (6 per cent).

Dzire had slipped to the third spot in the table for the top 10 passenger vehicles sold in India during 2016-17 from the Number 2 tag the previous year. Its sales fell to 1.67 lakh units in FY17 from 1.95 lakh units in 2015-16.

However, the launch of the third-generation Dzire in May has helped the company boost the volumes and also market share.

With strong volume growth, Dzire is expected to regain its Number 2 slot for the full year this fiscal.