EconomyAuto
Maruti Suzuki shares hit 18-month low as costlier raw materials worry investors
India's biggest carmaker has lost a third of its market value this year and fell even as the wider market rallied, with brokers warning the post-GST sales boost is fading.
Key points
- Maruti Suzuki fell 2% to ₹11,126.05, its lowest level since April 2025.
- The stock is down 33% in 2026, against a 12% fall in the BSE Auto index.
- The company has warned that tensions in West Asia may push up commodity prices and squeeze profits.
Shares of Maruti Suzuki fell to their lowest level in 18 months on Tuesday, extending a slide that has wiped a third off the carmaker’s value this year, as investors fretted about rising raw material costs.
The stock dropped 2% to ₹11,126.05 on the BSE during the day, its weakest since April 2025, and it ended among the Nifty’s biggest losers on a day the index rose 1.6%. It is down 33% so far in 2026, far worse than the Sensex’s 15% fall and the BSE Auto index’s 12% drop.
In its annual report for 2025-26, the company warned that “geopolitical tensions in West Asia may exert pressure on profitability through higher commodity prices”. It also said supply chains for specialised materials and critical components are concentrated in a few countries, a risk it expects to persist. Maruti has said it aims to win back a 50% share of the passenger car market, in part by building up its range of SUVs while continuing to serve buyers of small cars.
Brokers say the whole sector is under pressure. Systematix Institutional Research said carmakers are “entering a phase of earnings normalization in FY27”, as the demand boost from GST cuts fades and costlier raw materials start to hurt margins. It expects commodity inflation to widen the gap between companies with tight cost control and a richer product mix and those without.
Equirus Securities said the market is worried about growth in the second half of the year and current raw material inflation, but believes “these concerns are now largely priced in”.