Just because we haven’t had a new Maruti Suzuki for a while doesn’t mean India’s largest carmaker is sitting idle. Okay, that wasn’t the most mature start to an article. Apologies for that. But then one has to set the tone in the right direction before getting on with it. Right? No? Okay, never mind!

Earlier this year, Maruti Suzuki set a new record. That was for occupying the top five spots for bestselling cars in the country for the fourth consecutive year. Fast forward to the current week, and the carmaker has reported two new feats in three days.

Surpassed 50 lakh sales in rural markets

Building on the first-comers advantage, Maruti Suzuki started tapping the rural markets way before any other player in India. Courtesy of the early move, sales from rural markets started rising soon. In FY08-09, they accounted for 10 per cent of overall sales. Figures have been on the rise since, which bumped that percentage number close to 40 in FY20-21. As a result of that growth, Maruti Suzuki has surpassed 50 lakh sales in rural markets.

The main force behind those numbers comes from two more – the 1,700+ outlets customised to serve customers in rural markets. Running those facilities are the 12,500+ trained personnel called Resident Dealer Sales Executives. Apart from the massive workforce, campaigns such as Gramin Mahotsav have helped Maruti Suzuki gain traction.

Nexa completes six years

On July 23, 2015, Maruti Suzuki launched its premium range of dealerships – Nexa. Six years have passed, and the company has sold more than 14 lakh units from these outlets. As per the Indo-Japanese brand, nearly 70 per cent of Nexa customers are first-time buyers. Presently, Maruti Suzuki has more than 380 Nexa outlets, covering over 234 cities across India. The cars it retails from Nexa are S-Cross, Baleno, Ignis, Ciaz and the XL6. Rest are sold from the Arena line of showrooms.