Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MARUTI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Maruti Suzuki India Limited Q1 FY '26 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Pranav. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you, Avirat. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, once again. Welcome you all to Q1 FY '26 earnings call. May I introduce you to the management team from Maruti Suzuki. Today, we have with us our Chief Investor Relations Officer, Mr. Rahul Bharti; and CFO, Mr. Arnab Roy. Before we begin, may I remind you of the safe harbor. We may be making some forward-looking statements that have to be understood in conjunction with the uncertainty and the risks that the company faces. I also like to inform you that the call is being recorded and the audio recording and the transcript will be available at our website. May please note that in case of any inadvertent error during this live audio call, the transcript will be provided with the corrected information. The con call will begin with a brief statement on the performance and outlook of a business by CIRO and Senior Executive Officer, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Rahul Bharti; after which, we'll be happy to receive your questions. I would now like to invite our CIRO, Mr. Rahul Bharti. Over to you, sir.

Thanks, Pranav. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us. Before we come to the explanation of the results, I would like to share an overview of the passenger vehicle industry sales performance in quarter 1, followed by major business highlights for the company. In quarter 1 of this financial year, the domestic passenger vehicle industry continued to witness a sluggish demand environment. The wholesales in the passenger vehicle industry declined by about 1.4% in the quarter 1 compared to the same period previous year. The affordability issues in the entry segment costs continue to affect the growth of the industry. In terms of form factor, the industry saw an increase in consumer preference to SUVs and MPVs. In quarter 1, the SUV share increased to over 55% of total sales, while NPV's contribution increased about 11%. However, the share of hatchback segment continued to shrink. In quarter 1 of this financial year, the share has reduced to 21% from a high of 46% in the financial year 2019. In terms of powertrain mix, the share of CNG and diesel car trains was about at 19% each. The share of hybrid vehicles and EVs were about at 3% and 4%, respectively. Now I'd like to share the major business highlights for the company. The company continued to maintain a robust growth in exports in the quarter. It commanded nearly 47.1% share of India's total passenger vehicle exports in quarter 1 of this financial year. The all-new Dzire became India's first sedan to receive a 5-star Bharat NCAP safety rating while the New Age Baleno earned a commendable 4-star rating, reinforcing our commitment to vehicle safety. In terms of customer safety, the company is now offering 6-airbag as a standard in almost all its PV product lineup and advanced safety features like electronic stability control, antilock braking system with electronic break force distribution as a standard feature across all -- variants of all models. In the SUV segment, the Grand Vitara set a new benchmark by becoming the fastest mid-SUV to reach 300,000 unit sales since its launch. The Fronx emerged as the fastest SUV to achieve 100,000 exports from India within just 25 months, reflecting strong global acceptance of the company's products. The Fronx is also the highest exported car from India in quarter 1 of this financial year. The company celebrates 20 years of its iconic Swift. Since its launch, the Swift has evolved through 4 generations and continue to resonate strongly with customers having accomplished a milestone of over 3 million customers in India. In terms of service network, the company inaugurated 5,500 service touch points, bringing a total number of service base to about 40,000 across 2,764 cities of India. The company achieved a historic milestone in May 2025 by servicing over 24.5 lakh vehicles in a single month. The company continues to accelerate its efforts to enhance the share of renewable energy across its operations. You may be aware, we had increased the capacity of our solar generation to 78.2 megawatt at peak. Looking ahead, the company plans to scale its solar capacity to 319 megawatts by financial year '30-'31. This is expected to increase the share of renewable electricity in total electricity consumption to 85% by the financial year 2030-31. The company also uses rail mode to lower its carbon footprint in the logistics. The company is the first automobile OEM in India to develop in-plant railway sidings, and that too at 2 manufacturing facilities with a combined dispatch capacity of 750,000 vehicles per annum. These sidings are aligned with the government of India's PM Gati Shakti initiative. In financial year '25, the company had achieved its highest ever rail dispatch volume of 518,000 vehicles representing 24.3% of total dispatches. We are aiming to increase the share to 35% by financial year '30-'31. To accelerate electric vehicle adoption, the company introduced customized training program at 130 industrial training institutes called ITIs, as part of its CSR. The first batch of over 4,000 trained students will be ready to join the automobile industry from September 2025 onwards. They are free to join either Maruti network or any company in India. Coming to the business performance in the quarter 1 of financial year '26. During the quarter, the company sold a total of 527,861 vehicles during the quarter, comprising domestic sales of 430,889 units and exports of 96,972 units. A decline in domestic sales of 4.5% was compensated by a robust 37.4% growth in exports, resulting in an overall sales volume increase of 1.1% for the quarter year-on-year. In domestic market, the participation of first-time buyers in car buying continue to remain subdued largely due to affordability issues. For the sake of clarity, since this definition has come up, first-time buyers refers to first ever car purchase in the family, not the first ever purchase by an individual. Given the demand situation, the company calibrated its wholesale while maximizing retail sales. In the quarter, the demand environment in the rural market was quite better as compared to urban markets and the early onset of monsoon has helped improve consumer sentiment in rural markets. The consumer preference towards CNG vehicles continues to increase. In quarter 1, every 1 in 3 cars sold by the company in the domestic market was a natural gas vehicle. Coming to financial results. during quarter 1 of financial year '26, the company registered net sales of INR 366.2 billion as compared to INR 338.7 billion in the same period previous year. The net profit in the quarter was INR 37.1 billion, compared to INR 36.5 billion in quarter 1 of the financial year '25. Since investors look for a sequential comparison, I'll share. On a sequential basis, while the overall sales volume declined by 12.7%. The net sales declined at a slower pace by 5.7% owing to favorable mix. Sequentially, the operating profit margin, EBIT, has come down to 8.3% of net sales compared to 8.7% in quarter 4 of financial year '25 and it's a result of some adverse factors, some positive factors, I'll list them both. The adverse factors were the operating leverage was unfavorable by about 60 basis points. Commodities largely on account of steel was adverse by 40 basis points. ForEx adverse by 40 basis points; employee costs higher by 50 basis points, largely on account of seasonality. As you may be aware, the commercial production of Greenfield plant at Kharkhoda, Phase 1, having a capacity of 250,000 units per annum has started in the quarter 4 of financial year '25. Being a new plant, it will take a while for the production to scale up; however, the overheads and depreciation associated with new plant is getting captured in the P&L. The hit on the margin because of this is about 30 basis points, which should go away as the utilization goes up. These adverse expenses were partially offset by a favorable mix of about 30 basis points, lower advertisement expenses of about 60 basis points. You may also be aware there was a lumpiness of about 90 basis points in Q4 of financial year '25. Now in quarter 4 -- in quarter 1 this year, this has reversed. Additionally, it is to be noted that the benefit in terms of ForEx and commodities of about 50 basis points is accrued due to hedging gain. And because of the nature of income, this benefit is accounted in nonoperating income and is not captured in the operating margin in our accounts. I may also like to flag for our analysts that our subsidiary, SMG, has reported an interest income on their cash of about INR 400 million at the PAT level, though this has not been accounted in our stand-alone path. That brings me to the end of the financial results. And we are now ready to take your questions, feedback and any observations that you may have.

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Raghunandhan from Nuvama Research.

Sir, firstly, on net sales per unit, it has gone up 8% Q-o-Q, it is at the highest ever level. If you can talk about what has led to this ASP increase and whether this is sustainable? Is there any one-off impact?

There's no one-off. It's a simple function of the mix of the model, so higher SUVs, lower smaller cars, that's all.

Got it, sir. And the commission is expected next year, how do you see the positive impact on 4-wheeler demand to shape up next year? And for us, what has been the contribution of government employees in sales?

So it's slightly premature to estimate the benefit on account of that. We also have to keep in mind that if the income jump has to be distributed across so many share of the -- I mean, items and the share in the wallet, so how much will it really help we still have to assess.

And share of government employees in our sales?

Depending upon the definition because different people have different definition, we can take it around mid-teens.

And can you please indicate the retails for Q1 and dealer inventory at the end of the quarter?

The dealer inventory is fairly in control. In fact, we have been the most conservative probably in the industry to manage it well, and we've been calibrating our core sales to bring into account. So it's just about 33 days.

Got it, sir. And just the last thing before I fall back. If you can share the discounts and exports number?

Well, it's in the range of about INR 6,500 crores overall, and discount is flattish compared to the last quarter.

The next question is from the line of Amyn Pirani from JPMorgan.

Congratulations on a strong performance despite weak volume in this quarter. My first question is on the whole commentary around the rare earth. I just want to get your sense as to how big a problem is it for you as of now? And just your perspective on whether is it only a challenge for EVs? Or will -- or can it become a challenge for the entire ICE portfolio as well? And where are we in terms of managing this risk?

Okay. So it is a challenge. And of course, our people, our engineers are working to mitigate it and ensure that we do not have impact of this. So it's work in progress. But as of now, we are managing the situation. If and when there is an impact, we'll come back to you. To answer your question, rare earth magnets are used across the usage changes. The consumption in EVs is much higher. In ICE engines, it is much lower, but it does exist. Mostly, it is in the motor or in sensors or in some electrical parts.

Fair enough. And secondly, just on the mix. Obviously, this quarter, your exports have been doing well for a while now, but this quarter, the gap between exports and domestics was even higher. So can you help us understand any specific color on the ASP? Is it just a basic mix? Or is there some country mix or some FX benefit also, which you are getting due to which this ASP has gone up?

See, overall, if you look at an overall broader perspective, it's fairly even-steven. I mean, there is not much of a difference between domestic and export. As Rahul articulated earlier, it is pretty much the model mix, which is impacting it going towards more the bigger cars.

The next question is from the line of Gunjan Prithyani from Bank of America.

Just a follow-up again on the number, the retail number for this quarter. And if you can sort of share the color between how is the growth between the rural and urban that you're seeing? And clarification that the discount number that you said is same as last quarter? You mean that is in terms of the rupee per car, that's the number that you're talking about, if you can clarify that.

So the retail was about 380,000 units. And the degrowth was lesser in retail than in the wholesale. At the retail level, we -- our degrowth was about 3.7% year-on-year, while industry degrowth was about at 1.5% year-on-year. And your other question was?

Other question was on discount. Yes, it is flat on a rupees per car basis, flattish.

Got it. And any color on urban -- like you said, degrowth, is there any difference that you're seeing between rural and urban that rural is doing well or is positive, some thoughts around that?

Yes. So rural is doing better than urban, yes.

Would rural be positive?

Yes, rural is positive.

Okay. Sorry, just last clarification on this and rural salience for us now stands at what? Like how much share does rural account for?

We used to monitor this parameter a few years ago, but now the lines are getting hazier. So now we don't put it in so hard buckets of urban and rural. But generally speaking, directionally, rural is doing better than urban.

And the second question is more on the demand environment. Of course, it's been quite soft start to the year. How should we directionally be thinking about demand heading into festive or second half the year. And we do also have a launch pipe -- 2 launches that we spoke about. So are we still confident on that guidance of 2% to 3% industry and us outperforming?

So in the beginning of the year, yes, the industry body had given a kind of a guess of 1% to 2% growth. Q1 has not been up to the mark. Q2 has some positives. We are waiting for the festive season. There are other positives also like the monsoon and rural is holding up. So we are looking at Q2 and the festive season with optimism. Part of the festive season runs into Q3 also. So we are hoping that it should be a better festive season than what we have seen in the financial year so far. And you're right, we have 2 strong launches, both in the SUV space, one in electric, the other not in electric and they're both in this financial year. So we have some optimism towards that.

Got it. Just last one on CAFE norms. A lot of noise has been there in the press around the conversations with the government. Now, of course, there is still to be -- it's still to be finalized, but can you share some thought process around how the -- is there an acceptance to revisit, be it small car, be it hybrid, how are the conversations around the emission norms? And when should we see better clarity on this?

See, to the extent the discussions are in SIAM, I won't be able to answer because SIAM is the best folks person for that. Having said that, the discussions have been proceeding well between industry and government. Both sides understand each other's position quite well. It is a complex topic, but there have been sufficient discussions and all the complexities are on the table. And it is expected that between 1 to 2 months, all of us are hoping that the final regulation will be out so that we have clarity for the powertrains starting from first April 2027.

The next question is from the line of Amit Hiranandani from PhillipCapital.

Congrats for the recent set of numbers. Sir, just on the export front, we are seeing that Maruti exports growth have been much better than the peers. Just want to understand what Maruti is doing differently versus peers. Also, how is the exports market shaping up? And is there any kind of a discounting war ongoing in certain markets to gain some market share? And also the outlook on the same, please?

Thanks for this question. And see, a lot of efforts have gone in the full past decade at a very deep structural level for building exports. The biggest thing is the network, so we have improvised the network both in quantity and in quality in depth of penetration across markets. We've launched more products in more markets. We have carried the successes and examples of those successes from Indian marketing and Indian servicing to these foreign markets like customer handling processes, finance at dealerships, customer complaints, reach out efforts. All these efforts have helped. I should also say that Suzuki has been kind to make their global distributors available to us. So in Q1, it is so interesting that the rest of industry, if we exclude Maruti, there was a negative growth of 2.1%. Maruti exports grew by 37.4% and which pulled up the industry growth to 13%. Now we have 47% of exports. So it is a buildup over a long period of time. And we are spread in now about 100 countries, and we want to take it forward. A big increase will be when we launch our EV in about 100 countries of the world, including Europe and Japan. One big factor has been Japan. You may be interested to know that Japan is now in Q1, the second largest export destination in all our portfolio, in all our global markets. And Jimny and Fronx are doing exceedingly well there.

Yes sir, commendable work, sir, on the export front. Sir, my second question is, basically, I want to understand more on the upcoming launches and how much percentage would be...

Sorry, I missed -- sorry to interrupt you. You had 1 question on discounting. No, that's not the case. We are working with very sustainable healthy margins.

Sir, how much percentage will be SUVs in Maruti's upcoming launches till FY '30?

Normally, auto manufacturers do not share launches so much in advance. They just share the numbers. The idea is to retain the excitement and the curiosity in the market. So at least in this financial year, we'll have 2 SUVs. And what I can share with you is, since SUVs are about 55% of the market today, so obviously, they'll find a good share in our new model lineup in the next few years.

Just one last quick question on the -- why other income was higher and the CapEx outlook for this fiscal?

Other income has been higher, as you can see it from the results. It is predominantly driven by 2 things: One is definitely a more efficient treasury operation. And the second part of it is the market has been supportive. So I mean, there was a mark-to-market impact of the overall industry yield, whether it is I mean kind of a 3-year reference yields or the 1-year reference yields, both have softened. So as a result of that, there's a mark-to-market impact.

And the CapEx outlook, please?

Being as per plan overall, so I mean we had an outlook of about close to INR 10,000 crores for the year, and we are tracking at about the run rate. We are around 25%-ish for the quarter 1.

The next question is from the line of Binay Singh from Morgan Stanley.

My question is on supply chain resilience when it comes to electric vehicles. Is there a discussion between the SIAM and the government? Because on one side, every company in this earnings call has come out and said that electric vehicle ramp up outlook in the near term is uncertain, but we also have CAFE norms, which are in a way pushing the sector towards electric, whereas do you think there's enough supply chain resilience to make the sector future proof? Anything SIAM or the government are jointly doing together to address that? That's the first question. Would love to hear your thoughts here.

Binay, a very good question. I hope we had an equally good answer. This is a challenge. It was known. There are other questions around EVs also like lithium availability or some other critical minerals availability. Fortunately, the government is seized of the matter and they are taking a realistic view. The ministries are talking to each other. So there is some level of understanding on this. Therefore, in CAFE norms, a multi-powertrain approach or a strategy is a much derisked ones. We are ambitious on EVs and we are ambitious on other clean technologies also. Supply chain resilience is not fully established, but the industry is working towards it. It may involve some cost and there are also efforts on other fronts, whether some magnet can be made elsewhere, either in India or abroad. The government is working on those kind of efforts also. So it's the kind of uncertainty that you see in business and you have to take those challenges in your stride.

Secondly, Rahul, just on the coming festival season, like you talked about, you'll have 2 SUV launches coming through to that. Any thoughts on market share gain versus cannibalization? Anything you want to share about both of them? Anything different that you're trying to do so as to maximize the impact and have more market share gain in the SUV space?

See, one of our SUVs is the EV, you are aware, and we have taken many steps to give the consumer a lot of confidence particularly aftersales; for example, fast charging, charging at home, 24/7 assistance, service on wheels. And everything that Maruti stands for: service, proximity, support, et cetera. So that should increase confidence in EVs in India and increased adoption also. And your question on cannibalization, this has been a question for the past, I would say, 20 years. If you have a big portfolio and you space your models close to each other, so that every space is filled. So this is a kind of a risk that we have handled in so many product launches in the past. And our idea is the total volume should go up.

Right. Because especially with regard to the other launch, not the EV one, the other SUV is where -- because it is going to the ARENA platform.

See, we have to keep in mind and only Maruti Suzuki has this advantage in India that we have 2 channels now, distribution channels. We have the NEXA, we have the ARENA. So we go granular in serving the customer.

The next question is from the line of Rishi Vora from Kotak Securities.

Just first, on the EV launch. So when are we going to export the product? Is it like this month or is it the next -- within the next 2 months?

So we'll see, we have to dispatch as about 100 markets of the world, including India. And so some amount of staggering will take place, but we'll start very soon, and finish. We'll complete all within this financial year.

So it has not happened in the month of July, right?

Today is the last day of July and it has not happened today.

Yes, understood. And secondly, on the Grand Vitara volumes, we have seen quite a significant decline in the volumes. So anything you want to highlight over there what is happening over there and why there has been such a steep fall?

See, we have -- the product is good, the customer response is good. And the customers who have seen it swear by the product. We will be going in a sustainable manner. And if there are any desperate measures in the market by some players, a company like Maruti Suzuki will not be affected too early. So we'll go about in a sustainable manner.

Understood. The ICE SUV launch, which we have -- which will be...

I should also tell you that there is a CNG variant that has been launched very recently.

Understood. And on the ICE SUV launch, which is slated for release in the coming months, will it also have a hybrid powertrain or you'll not be commenting right now?

If I tell you now, you won't come to our launch. I want to invite you to our launch.

Understood. And just last thing, just on the ASP side, will there also be some positive impact of this, the 6 airbags, which you have introduced in all your models. So at least during the quarter, can you give us the number of models in which you have introduced 6 airbags and that will have some positive impact on the ASPs as well, right?

What I can tell you is that by -- let's say, by end of July, which is now almost 97% of our volume by sales would have 6 airbags.

Understood. And by any change, you know the number, what would be by end of March?

It's a transition phase. So just wait for the next quarter.

The next question is from the line of Kapil Singh from Nomura.

Just a few numbers, which I wanted. Firstly, the spare sales for the quarter if you have, the MTM gain in other income, which you can share? And the CapEx of INR 10,000 crores, does it include SMG? If not, what is SMG CapEx?

Okay. First, on the last one, I think that CapEx is MSIL. SMG is over and above it. So that's the first part. MTM, there is about -- as I said, that the index yield has gone by about 35 bps. So there is a corresponding gain for that. And what was your other question?

Spare sales for the quarter?

Yes, just give you a moment. The growth is about 13%. I don't think we have the exact number right away. Growth is around 13%.

Okay. Sir, how much cash do we have? And what is the yield we have on the treasury book?

See, cash, you can -- I mean, this is a June quarter, so we don't share the balance sheet, so you can do that math. And you can see it's in the similar range. So again September, you will get our balance sheet. And the yield has been positive. There is this underlying yield plus over and of that is mark to market, as I have said a few times in the call. So it's a combination of that. And you guys have all the models to do the math.

One question I had on the electric vehicle launch in the global markets, particularly Europe and Japan, since you've been doing ground work on these markets where you're launching, any understanding -- general understanding of the European and Japanese market, you could give like what are the adoption rates for electric vehicles? How you are seeing that market progressing and the competitive intensity in those markets as well? Any qualitative color would be helpful.

Interesting. So Europe is -- today has about 12% EV penetration, but the appetite is high. So Japan has a slightly lower penetration. But yes, we are confident of that market because our parent comes from that market. And if we have -- if we can go by their assessment of the past 2 models, which has the Fronx and the Jimny, the experience has been positive. So we are hopeful. I can also tell you that these exports will be fairly diversified. We have about 100 countries of the world, so we have a sense of confidence on the sales.

Sure, sir. Anything on the competitive intensity?

See, obviously, this will not be like India where Maruti is a dominant player -- Maruti Suzuki is a dominant player. But there is a lot of appetite in the market, which we have -- and with a good product, we are hoping to service.

The next question is from the line of Pramod Amthe from Incred.

So Rahul, this is with regard to the exports. As a proportion of mix, it seems to be moving up and we clearly see a traction in terms of ASP. But when it comes to our gross margins or to the EBITDA margin, they still are not flowing through to the end. So can you give more color in terms of exports? Are they going to fleet or more for individual customers? How is the mix?

As I mentioned, we export to about 100 countries of the world. The mix is -- it's, for example, it has a fair amount of small cars also. And the margins, I mentioned, sustainable. These are both individual customers. And in some markets, we have the fleet customers also, so fairly diversified. And across segments, we have the Dzire, as a sedan. We have SUVs, we have small and compact cars. So fairly diversified.

And the second one is taking forward to the EV exports. So how do you -- do you need to track from India, the relative price positioning of these vehicles versus peers? Or the CAFE type of norms will be a driving force for Suzuki to absorb from Maruti so that you will be working on a fixed take or pay? How does this all shape up in EVs?

Sorry, could you repeat the question?

No, I was saying initial pricing has come through, right, in Europe, how the products are pricing. So at the end of the day, do we need to see the competitive pricing of these products in those end markets and how the demand will shape up for India exports? Or you feel the regulatory compliances like CAFE, which will make Suzuki to absorb Maruti imports of EVs?

See how they price it in their markets is their concern. But of course, since we have to export from here, we definitely need our profit. And the market has an appetite for so many reasons: the market pressure, peer pressure, competitive pressure, regulatory pressure, the environment concerns. So there is an appetite, as I mentioned, in the European market, and we are positive about it.

And you will be working on quarterly targets of pushing volumes to the parent based on the demand? Or how is it going to shape up as we go forward on EVs?

So like it happens in all markets, every market has a customer appetite and there's a demand forecasting, so we will be manufacturing to such forecasts, and we'll be shipping our cars.

Ladies and gentlemen, we take that as the last question for the day. On behalf of Maruti Suzuki India Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.