Long live Maruti Suzuki

Just one rival and that too a hyundai[the i10] ,seems be the end of the road for maruti, yup that's what anaylsts at CLSA and Meryl Lynch seem to be suggesting.God knows what the verdict would be when VW,Toyota and Honda join the battleground.And Marutis biggest headache the nano is not yet out on the roads.

Wait before you form an opinion ,even amongst the anaylsts there are a few optimists who suggest that everything is not that bad for maruti.What they say is that The i-10 is eating into sale of its sibling the santro rather than winning over maruti customers.Models like swift and sx4 are doing very well and the swift dzire too should do very well in its segment.Plus there is the a-star and the splash.The i-10 is eating into sale of its sibling the santro rather than winning over maruti customers is what they say.

What works against maruti is its rapidly aging fleet in the mass market segment.Whatever were the maruti bosses drinking when they thought of bringing the estilo in india in place of the zen.Just two years after its introduction its the old grandfather in its segment.Why would somebody looking for buying a maruti at that price switch to the estilo than the wagon-r.Had they introduced a much more modern offering at that time things would have been very different now.If the estilo/MR wagon was so old for the japanese market that they had to discontinue it there, how did they expect to sell it here.Besides the metrosexual idea for the estilo never caught up with the Indian public.

So is it all over for Maruti,in my opinion Nope. Yes Maruti have a serious problem on their hands but it has a trick or two up its sleeve.Expect plenty of small cars in the Indian market in the near future from Maruti[The cervo,Splash,A-star].Maruti is also working on its own range of diesel engines[not the fiat Multijet] which would make it more cheaper and also maruti can get the diesel on its small cars.But definitely from now on its not an easy road for the leader, rivals are fast catching up and all the goodwork of twenty plus years could get undone in a jiffy.

Maruti needs to send an SOS to Suzuki japan and get new small cars into the market as soon as possible plus develop that in house diesel range soon.Maruti needs to rebrand itself in India ,maybe create a separate division for selling premium and luxury cars/SUV's.However what they cannot afford to do is rest.

Maruti just have to look at the american markets to see how easily giants can fall.

Maruti's A-star will be here in 2009 only

Yes that's what Maruti officials have been quoted saying.The A-star concept which we saw at the auto expo in 2008 would be a production vehicle only in the second half of the next financial year.

Maruti does have a serious problem on its hands right now, in the fact that its premium cars are doing very well but its bread and butter models are not really catching customers fancy anymore and thus sales are stagnating or falling in the economy segment.More choice from competitors means people have the option of looking elsewhere.Maruti needs to address this problem soon and get in world class but relatively cheap hatchbacks.

Now as to which vehicle would be here in october.The Suzuki Cervo has been caught testing and it may be the first of the new small cars to make it here.The Suzuki Splash and the A-star could be here only after that.Between the two I expect the Splash launch to be before the A-star one.

Also read:
Maruti Suzuki A-star Revealed

Honda To bring in its diesel CRV soon,Marutis new small car.

Finally we shall get a diesel from Honda.Our country just loves diesel and it does not matter which segment you talk about diesel cars rule the roost.Honda was able to do well with the CRV inspite of having only a petrol engine option.With this diesel engine I expect Honda to not only rule in this segment[SUV] but win over many prospective premium sedan customers.

Now if only honda thinks about smaller i-ctdi engines for the smaller offerings like the honda city and the jazz.

The vehicle has been caught testing in India
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The same person has also captured pictures of another vehicle which I presume is the Maruti Suzuki Cervo[dont know its official name in India yet] which as rumour had it was to replace the maruti 800[which is unlikely].This car is more in the wagon-r segment.

Heres the picture of the Suzuki cervo:


This car too has been caught testing at the same location.


Update:The autocarindia links are not working any more.Sorry.

[image source:nihoncars]