Maruti Suzuki Eyeing 50% Market Share By 2030, Says Chairman Bhargava As October Sales Hit Fresh Record

India's largest automobile company Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. is eyeing a commanding 50% market share, said chairman RC Bhargava in a conversation with NDTV Profit. The long-term roadmap remains aggressive: exports are targeted to scale up to 750,000–800,000 cars by 2030–31, he stated.

Margins, however, continue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter, driven by multiple market and operational factors, Bhargava explained. Speaking of sales, Bhargava detailed that post August 15, dispatches to dealers took a hit. Customers held back purchases, anticipating a price drop, and the industry had to wait until September 22 for clarity. When the GST rate cuts were finally announced on that date, sales surged to record levels almost overnight.

The conversation comes on the backdrop of record sales in the domestic market riding on festive demand boosted by GST rate cut.

'In October, we did a retail of 2,42,096 units, which is a growth of almost 20% over the last year,' Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Partho Banerjee, told news agency PTI. It was the highest-ever retail sale that the auto giant did in an October.

In the 40-days festival period starting from Navratra, he said the company had five lakh bookings with 4.1 lakh retail sales, 'which is almost double of the last year'. Banerjee said before the GST reforms there were challenges in the new set of first-time car buyers entering the market but after GST 2.0 many customers have started coming to showrooms.

In terms of wholesales, Maruti Suzuki India said its total domestic sales, including commercial vehicles, stood at an all-time high of 1,80,675 units as against 1,63,130 units in the same month last year, up 10.75%. Domestic passenger vehicle sales were at 1,76,318 units as against 1,59,591 units in October 2024, up 10.48%, it added.