Last year, the popularity of Maruti Celerio took a huge hit as annual sales figure plummeted by 30 per cent from 1,00,957 in 2018 to 70,930 in 2019
As the annual sales figures of every car manufacturer present in India have been declared, there are some interesting revelations that have come to light. One such observation is that of the sales performance of the Celerio, which has suffered quite a hit last year. While the practical hatchback was never among the most popular models from the carmaker, its popularity has definitely taken a pretty hard hit, which could be due to the launch of the S-Presso and the third-gen Wagon R last year.
In 2019, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) sold a total of 70,930 units of the Celerio. While this made it among the more popular models in its segment, Year-on-Year comparison shows a huge dip of 30 per cent from 1,00,957 unit sales in 2018 to 70,930 units last year. In all likelihood, the reason for this drop is none other than the advent of the S-Presso and the latest-gen Wagon R.
The Maruti S-Presso was launched in India just ahead of the onset of the festive season, which means the limelight it got could have helped the new model attract many hatchback buyers away from the highly practical but plain-Jane Celerio. The demand for the S-Presso has been such that it sold more than 35,000 units in just little more than three months of presence in the market.
On the other hand, the latest generation Wagon R was launched in India in late-January and has been a bigger hit than its predecessors. Last year, it sold 1,55,967 units, which is a 3 per cent rise from 1,52,020 units of the previous generation model that were sold in 2018. The third-gen Wagon R offers many improvements over its previous iteration, which could have attracted some buyers away from the Maruti Celerio.
Available at its company’s Arena dealerships, the Maruti Celerio is currently on sale in a price range of Rs 4.26-5.43 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). In comparison, the S-Presso in available in a price range of Rs 3.69 – 4.91 Lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). In spite of being cheaper, it offers the same engine and even an optional AMT. Also, it holds an edge over the Celerio owing to its more modern platform and SUV-inspired styling.
On the other hand, the third generation Maruti Wagon R is on sale in a price range of Rs 4.42 – 5.91 Lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). Like the Celerio, it’s available with an optional AMT but is underpinned by the modern HEARTECT platform. Another advantage that it holds over the Celerio is that it’s available with both 1.0-litre and 1.2-litre engine options. The benefits that the Wagon R and the S-Presso hold over the Celerio seem to have had an adverse effect on the sales of the latter.