After 11 years, India’s bestselling van gets a makeover, Auto News, ET Auto

New Delhi: Country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) will be launching the next generation of its Eeco van around August-September this year, sources close to the development told ETAuto.

The van, which was one of the top 10 bestselling passenger vehicles (PVs) for FY22, in its new avatar is expected to be focused on exports too.

During the last fiscal, the carmaker exported less than a thousand units of the Eeco. However, the company had a renewed focus on exports and not only it doubled the overall export volumes but also emerged as the country’s largest car exporter.

To suit the export market, the model will get a new feature of the power steering column in the new avatar.

The van first hit the roads in the Indian market in 2010 and the company managed to sell over 1 lakh units of the model within two years of its launch. Eeco completed its first 5 lakh sales in 2018. Having sliding doors, it comes in a 7-seater model.

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, the Eeco model clocked average domestic sales of about 9,500 every month. The model enjoys its monopoly in the segment, as there is no direct competition from any OEM.

On Thursday, ETAuto also reported that the company’s compact offroader 5-door Jimny will be introduced in the country in the first quarter of fiscal 2023- 2024. This will take on the rival Mahindra Thar, which was launched in October 2020.

Further, the carmaker is all set to launch its first Toyota re-badged SUV codenamed YFG in the first part of the second quarter this year. With production volumes of about 2 lakh units, the YFG model will take on Hyundai’s best-selling SUV Creta.

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The country’s largest carmaker, which has seen its market share drop to 43.38 per cent in FY22 from 47.7 per cent in FY21, aims to bring in multiple SUV products with focus on new technologies like hybrid powertrains in order to enhance fuel efficiency, making them comparable or better than diesel-powered models that are currently being sold in the market, especially by its Korean rivals.