The latest Maruti Suzuki Ertiga is based on the lightweight Heartect platform and it uses a newly developed 1.5-litre SHVS petrol engine
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) introduced the latest generation Ertiga last November. It was no secret that the second-gen Ertiga had its work cut out considering the success of its predecessor that was in business for well over six years. In just over six months of its market launch, the New Ertiga has achieved 50,000 sales milestone in India as it appears to have done its job rather quite well and made a decent start to its life by registering 6,362 units in November 2018.
It was followed by 7,155 units in December 2018 while the opening months of 2019 had also been a huge positive for the seven-seater MPV. Maintaining its consistency, the new Ertiga endured 6,352 and 7,975 units in January and February respectively and things got only better since then when the automaker faced growth difficulties due to the unfavourable industry scenario.
In February 2019, the MPV reached nearly 8,000 unit sales with a phenomenal growth rate while the following month registered close to 9,000 units for the very first time. In the first month of the Financial Year 2019-20, the Ertiga posted 8,807 units despite Maruti Suzuki recording 19.6 per cent de-growth.
| Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Sales | |
| Month | No. of Unit Sold |
| Nov-18 | 6,362 |
| Dec-18 | 7,155 |
| Jan-19 | 6,352 |
| Feb-19 | 7,975 |
| March-19 | 8,955 |
| April-19 | 8,087 |
| May-19 | 8,864 |
It was the same case last month as the Ertiga saw a total of 8,864 dispatches with a massive growth rate of 82 per cent compared to May 2018 when 4,872 units were retailed. The Ertiga was also the ninth most sold vehicle in India in May 2019 as it finished ahead of Vitara Brezza when Maruti Suzuki suffered 25.1 per cent sales decline.
The latest Ertiga is based on the lightweight Heartect platform helping in the MPV to improve leaps and bounds in terms of handling and dynamics. Another significant contributor to the consistency of the good sales is the completely overhauled exterior and interior. Furthermore, the 1.4-litre petrol engine made way for a newly developed 1.5-litre k15B four-cylinder unit with SHVS technology producing 104.7 PS and 138 Nm.
It is mated to either a five-speed manual or a four-speed torque converter automatic transmission. The Ertiga’s price ranges between Rs. 7.44 lakh and 10.90 lakh (ex-showroom) and the newly launched taxi market specific Tour M variant will further improve its sales. Moreover, a six-seater cross variant is also in the works for debut later this year.