The Indo-Pak conflict in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor dampened consumer sentiment, leading to fewer sales for Maruti Suzuki cars in May, Partho Banerjee, the carmaker’s head of sales and marketing, said at a media briefing on the company’s performance in May. 

“The border areas (Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir), which were affected the most (by the military standoff between India and Pakistan), are also the areas where we have a healthy market share,” averred Banerjee. These states contribute nine percent to the overall sales of the company. 

India’s largest automaker sold 138,690 units in May, according to its statement. According to the Vahan portal, however, 1,22,667 Maruti Suzuki units were registered in May. 

Banerjee also said that the first quarter for the company is usually the slowest, but said that apart from the new launches, the demand for its utility vehicles is also slowing in urban areas, whereas entry-level cars continue to struggle in the market.

“There is no dearth of enquiries in the entry-level cars, but the problem is with the conversion of those enquiries into sales. Sometimes there is a problem in finance. Sometimes there are problems in the profile of the buyers,” explained Banerjee. The sales of the likes of Alto, S-Presso etc., part of its entry-level portfolio, showed a drop to 6,776 units, compared to 9,902 units last year. 

He also highlighted that the three best-selling models of the company were the Dzire, Ertiga, and the Brezza. Given the soft demand of the domestic market, the company has also recalibrated the inventory of its dealers. “Currently, the inventory of the dealers is 35 days. We don’t believe in pushing the metal to the dealers,” said Banerjee. 

The company has shown optimism for the imminent future. “With the arrival of a monsoon that is going to be better than last year, we are hoping that it will pay us dividends,” said Banerjee.

Maruti Suzuki earlier said that it plans to offset the tepid domestic market by ramping up its exports. It plans to increase its exports by 20% in the current financial year. It has recently started exporting to Japan, where it has been seeing a healthy demand for the Fronx and the Jimny, and is currently the second-largest exporter in the country. 

“Some of the major countries that we export to include Saudi Arabia, Chile, Japan, and Mexico. Our exports in May had jumped 80% year-on-year, and including April exports, it grew 50% year-on-year,” said Rahul Bharti, senior executive director, corporate affairs, Maruti Suzuki.