Maruti Suzuki, India's car market leader but lagging Ford Motor Co, Renault SA and others with new models in the fast-growing SUV segment, launched a crossover vehicle on Wednesday that aims to support ambitious sales growth plans.
Maruti Suzuki, India's car market leader but lagging Ford Motor Co, Renault SA and others with new models in the fast-growing SUV segment, launched a crossover vehicle on Wednesday that aims to support ambitious sales growth plans.
Maruti has set a target of nearly doubling its annual sales to 2 million vehicles by 2020, when analysts expect India will become the world's third-largest auto market with sales of more than 5 million vehicles despite sluggishness in recent years.
"We are taking various initiatives to achieve this goal. An important initiative is launching new cars and entering new segments," managing director, Kenichi Ayukawa told reporters at the launch of the S-Cross - a crossover between a sport-utility vehicle (SUV) and a sedan.
Consultant IHS Automotive forecasts compact SUV sales in India to reach nearly a million vehicles in 2020, or almost double 550,000 it expects to be sold in 2015.
