In the midst of the worst sales slump for passenger cars in decades, Maruti-Suzuki took the wraps off their new multi-person vehicle (MPV) the XL6. The XL6 which is a variant of the popular Ertiga MPV will however be sold through the carmakers premium sales channel Nexa, and features several premium touches such as a second-row of individual captain seats and full-LED headlights in the front.in keeping with Marutii's decision to stop production of small diesel engines, the Ertiga is available only in a petrol variant however has both manual and automatic transmission options. Prices will range from Rs 9.8 lakh to Rs 11.46 lakh.

Addressing the media after the launch, Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director, Maruti Suzuki India Limited admitted that the current environment where car sales have been declining as much 20 percent compared to figures from a year ago, is worrying. Stock levels for Maruti dealers is also running 'slightly higher than usual' he admitted, despite plants running at lower than optimal capacity. However, he added that he expected the market to show signs of growth during the festive season as the monsoons have been fairly positive and because some of the uncertainty that surrounded the industry on issues such as the changeover to BS6 emission norms and other issues such as electrification should be cleared.

That said Maruti executives privately admitted that they did not see sales reaching 2017 levels until 2021 at the earliest and said that the lack of credit is hurting dealers and customers alike.