As competition in the upper A2 segment of compact cars hottens up, Maruti Suzuki's Ritz comes out with an edge over the other cars in the segment in terms of first year sales numbers. The car, launched in May 2009, has sold 68,130 units during the period from May 2009 to April 2010.
The upper A2 segment currently comprises of cars like the Hyundai i-20, Fiat Punto, Skoda Fabia, Honda Jazz,Chevrolet Beat and the newly launched Ford Figo ,Volkswagen Polo. Nissan's Micra and Toyota's Etios will soon enter the segment.
While the Ritz sold over 68,000 units, the Hyundai i-20 sold 31,318 units during December 2008 and November 2009, Skoda Fabia sold 7,383 units during January to December 2008, the Honda Jazz sold 7,850 units in the first eleven months between June 2009 and April 2010, claimed a Maruti Suzuki release. The Ritz has managed to beat the Maruti Swift, that is the highest selling car in the segment selling over 1.1 lakh units annually for the last two years. The Swift which has sold 4.5 lakh units since its launch around five years back, had managed to sell around 57,738 units in its first year (May 2005 – April 2006).
Maruti has started exporting the Ritz that comes in both petrol and diesel variants.
Maruti is the market leader in the upper A2 segment with its Swift and Ritz, with a market share of around 80 per cent. The company enjoys a 60 per cent market share in the entire A2 segment.
