Enhance Engine R&D : Suzuki Tells Maruti

Japanese auto major Suzuki Motor Corporation has asked its Indian subsidiary Maruti Suzuki to enhance the level of research and development (R&D) for small car engines to meet growing demands.

“Engines below 1,200 cc get excise benefit from the government of India and currently 60-70 per cent of R&D for these engines takes place in Japan. Now Osamu Suzuki wants 90 per cent of the R&D to be done in India. It is important that Maruti develops these engines in India with help from Japan. The R&D efforts will also have to enable our vehicles to meet the new emission and safety regulations, which are to come into force in 2010,” Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava said.

Already Suzuki has announced its plans to make India an R&D hub and bring the level of product developments to that in Japan.

Source - Motorbeam.com

Hyundai's small car to be out in 2012

Hyundai are targeting to sell a small car with a price tag of $3500[Rs.1,50,000 approx].This car should cause a lot of problems to maruti especially and if there is a diesel available too at similar pricing God help Maruti.Maruti however have some time at their disposal since this car is only expected by 2012.

Hyundai have done well to realise the importance of the Indian markets much before other rivals.They have also gambled by launching the i10 first in the market and ensuring it caters to local choice as well.The end result is if you keep track of monthly car sales figures as each month passes by the gap between hyundai and maruti suzuki keeps getting narrower and narrower.Unless maruti does something drastic I have no doubt that Hyundai could unseat Maruti from its number one position.

Suzuki A-star to replace the Alto

Things have become a lot more clear now.The a-star is going to replace the existing alto which has so far been one of the most successfull models for maruti in India.However its well past its sell by date now and Maruti are doing well to replace the alto with the newer a-star.

The a-star would be powered by a 1000cc petrol engine,which should be one of latest from the suzuki stables as the car would be sold alongside the swift and the sx4 in the global market.Nissan to plan to sell the same car with its badge in some markets.

The car meets most european emission norms.Hopefully maruti price this new car as well as they have done with their existing cars for if they do so we certainly have a winner.

The a-star will debut at the Paris motor show in october. The A-star concept was one of the best looking cars at the auto show in 2008 sadly the production version is nowhere near that,what where the designers even thinking.

[source:times of india]

Maruti Launches the Maruti 800 Uniq

Limited edition variant seems to be the magic word in order to revive interest in a particular car model that is not exactly hogging the limelight at dealerships.Maruti have once again turned to this strategy and we have the Maruti 800 Uniq.

What's so unique about it.Maruti have tried catering to the latest fad of beige interiors,the the door panels too would get the fabric trim and you get a new console box as well as a parcel tray.Ofcourse how can you forget the exterior graphics and stickers screaming this car is Unique.

For how long are people going to fall into this trap of limited editions I am not sure.Thankfully this new version just costs an additional Rs.5100 more over its not so unique variants.

Maruti Suzuki to launch A-star by October 2008

Unlike predicted earlier the A-star would be launched in 2008 itself and the probable launch date is October 2008.Perhaps Maruti Suzuki was forced into hurrying up with the launch given that in the face of competition from the hyundai i-10 its small cars except perhaps the swift are facing the heat.

Spy pictures of the A-star are already available on the internet thanks to team-bhp.Once again i say this car seems very much in line with designs from the nissan stable[after all Nissan is planning to sell this same car in markets abroad]

Suzuki splash

However the suprising bit is the splash may only be launched by april 2009.Atleast thats what BNP paribas securities thinks.Maruti suzuki did have an exclusive meeting with auto analysts recently.Perhaps this is the outcome of that meeting.We all saw the spy pics and tht the splash was to be launched with a diesel engine.Perhaps maruti is delaying the splash launch as it would not be able to meet demand for further diesel engines at the moment[the waiting period for a diesel engine from maruti is somewhere close to six months now].Maruti has some expansion plans for its Manesar plant and also is thinking of increasing production of diesel engines.Perhaps only after this would the splash hit the roads.


Right now the pricing of both the splash and the a-star is unclear and will update you about the same in future.

For spy pics of the a-star please visit:
Maruti Suzuki A-star Revealed

Look who wants to ride the Tata Nano wave:Maruti Suzuki

If ever you wanted to see smart business men at work here's one of the best examples.Maruti Suzuki in a stroke of genius is actually using the prosperity created by the Tata Nano in rural Bengal and using this opportunity to sell Maruti cars so much so even suppliers for the Tata Nano claim they have become Maruti loyalists.

The unnamed supplier for the Tata Nano says that his income has increased and hence he is opting for the Maruti Alto mostly because he is a Maruti loyalist.Wow I hope Tata Motors is listening.

Maruti Suzuki is actually betting that as incomes rise people would still go in for the Maruti 800 and the Alto as compared to the Tata Nano.Now we know why Maruti is not exactly in a hurry to launch a car with the same price tag as the Tata Nano.

Maruti is betting big on the rural villages in Bengal and is targetting sales of about 2000 vehicles from this region alone.

[source:thetelegraph ]

Hyundai launches the 1.2L i10

Once again India gets it first the rest of the world will follow as far as Hyundai is concerned.Hyundai have launched the made in India 1.2L kappa engine which produces power of approx. 80bhp@5200rpm and Torque of 114Nm@4000rpm.Fuel efficiency is expected to remain the same as in case of the previous 1.1L engine.This new engine conforms to euro 5 standards.

Hyundai have also added the option of a four speed automatic[you don't have to wait until december now].The 1.2L i10 is available in three variants and befittingly one of them is a sportz vehicle[Finally a vehicle in India with a sport tag gets an engine upgrade as well].

The new engine option is available on the i10 with a price range ranging from Rs.4 to Rs5.50 lakhs[approx] which mean it will directly compete with the Maruti swift.

This also means the new i20 will most probably priced higher and would take on the skoda fabia and the Honda jazz[when launched].

Suzuki's answer to rising oil prices

Suzuki has got approval from the Japanese government to test a hydrogen powered SX4 on public roads.

This fuel cell vehicle is supposedly running on GM's FCV technology.

Following are the Technical specifications:
- 5 Seat capacity
- 4.190x1.730.1585mm
- 2.500 mm wheelbase
- Fuel-Cell output = 80kW
- Motor output = 68kW
- 70MPa high-pressure hydrogen tank
- Fuel type = High pressure hydrogen
- Maximum Speed 150km/h
- Range = 250km.

Would Maruti dare to manufacture such a car in India,for the consumer faced with ever increasing fuel bills lets certainly hope so.But even then FCV's are at their nascent stage and for a long time to come[2015 atleast say the japanese] don't expect them to be mass-produced.

[source:davedeli.blogspot.com ]

Maruti Suzuki A-star Revealed

Spy pictures are out of the new Maruti Suzuki A-star and its courtesy,yes no prices for guessing team-bhp once again.

The A-star has a Nissan touch to it and although there are talks of nissan probably selling this car too in markets abroad am not sure if nissan engineers had a say in the design.Honestly speaking the production version is a dissapointment after what the concept looked like at the auto expo 2008.The a-star should be sold with a pricetag closer to the present Maruti Alto.

Also spotted was the Maruti Suzuki Splash which was even sporting a diesel badge,so maruti is all set to launch a small car[splash] with a diesel engine.Now maruti already have capacity constraints as far as their diesel engines are concerned so I hope maruti does know what it is doing.Whether the a-star too would have a diesel,I am not sure yet.




Regarding the interiors of the splash,Maruti we need beige interiors in India please.

As far as launch is concerned the splash is expected by october 2008 and the a-star was expected by early 2009[though maruti seems to be ahead of schedule as far as the a-star is concerned]

Please visit team-bhp for the complete coverage:
Here

[image source:Worldcarfans.com,driveline]

[source:team-bhp.com]

PS: The pictures appear to be have taken from inside/around the Maruti premises[an area where taking pictures would have probably been restricted] though I am not sure,anyways I do not hold any responsibility for the pictures concerned and am only posting pictures which are now completely in public domain.

Maruti 800 to compete with the Tata Nano

After a lot of yes and no,it is becoming clear that Maruti indeed is worried about the impact the Tata nano can have on Maruti Suzuki. In order to allay fears that Maruti would be caught on the wrong foot as and when the Nano comes on the roads,Maruti has displayed to bankers a stripped down version which in terms of pricing would be very close to the Tata Nano.

How Maruti have achieved this low pricing is unknown but an already stripped down car the Maruti 800 is said to have been further stripped down.The ex-showroom price of this model is around Rs.75,000 cheaper than existing model and should be available for a price tag of around Rs.1.2-1.5 lakhs ex-showroom pricing.

Now its pretty much established that the one lakh tag for nano cannot stay on for long and what should help Maruti would be the supply demand mismatch which Tata are bound to face.Also until 2010 atleast the Nano will have no rival other than the Maruti 800.

However I would really love to see what Maruti mean by a stripped down version of the Maruti 800.

[Source: Business Standard]

Maruti India AD -part 2

This is the second part of the India drives home in a maruti suzuki ad.Once again thanks to manikdob1985 for the upload.

Honda City resale prices fall drastically

Honda have time and again refused to accept that diesel is the way out in the Indian markets.For a long while they have managed to get away even.But now when times are getting tough even a company like Honda cannot get away any more.

Yes sales of new cars has been down for a while now.But now it is hurting where it hurts the most.For long honda has been proud about the resale value of its cars and even used it as a sales strategy for new cars.But now things have all changed Honda city resale value has fallen by 25-30% and that too just from the date when fuel prices where increased.Honda was always going to be the most affected simply because it had only petrol cars in its portfolio.What is interesting is that according to the report[BS] Honda civic too has been badly hit with everybody in a hurry to sell but relatively fewer buyers for the car in the seconds market.

Is Honda the only company affected no,General motors have been way too slow in adopting diesel into its line-up when it comes to the more mass market cars[leaving aside the tavera].

The ford fiesta too is suffering with the bad resale value and fords problems seem to continue with resale value of their cars.

The huge discounts on the Toyota Corolla and the lack of demand has affected its prices too in the seconds market.The mitsubishi lancer cedia is another car which is not doing well in the seconds market.

For a while it was the golden run of C and D segment cars in India but that run has abruptly come to an end.

According to the report there is an oversupply of the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Ford Fiesta, Mitsubishi Lancer, Toyota Corolla ,Honda CRV, Ford Endeavour and the Hyundai Tuscon in the seconds market.

So what are Indian buyers buying now.Well we too have taken to the smaller is better strategy and if at all a bigger car is purchased it is a diesel.Maruti and hyundai are the more popular choices in the seconds market with WagonR, Zen, Alto, M800, Swift, Omni and Hyundai's Santro and Getz being the most sort after.

[source:Business Standard]

India comes home in a Maruti Suzuki

Great new ad from Maruti Suzuki.Thanks to manikdob1985 for uploading the Video on youtube.



I loved the new tag line.By the way India does come home in a Maruti Suzuki[pun intended]

The Maruti SX4 diesel will have to wait?

The demand for the Diesel Swift[both sedan and hatch] has now gone way beyond maruti's control so much so people are moving to competitors frustrated by the waiting period.Maruti[really speaking its parent suzuki] has really been very slow in adapting the dirty fuel diesel and has more or less concentrated only on petrol cars.Whatever diesel cars are actually available right now from the Maruti suzuki stable are possible only with the help of Fiat's Multijet range of diesel engines.It is just natural that there would be a shortfall.

Now why Suzuki is not thinking seriously about diesel is perplexing.India is its main market now and boy do Indians love diesel.

Maruti did have plans to launch the diesel version of the SX4 sometime this year[2008] possibly with a tweaked 1.3L multijet engine but given the demand for these engines in the other cars Maruti would just not be able to sell any diesel SX4's due to lack of availability of the engines and hence have now postponed the plans for the disel SX4.

This should come as a shot in the arm for rivals especially ones who have diesel options.As far as the waitng period for the swift dzire goes someone just told me book now and get delivery only in 2009.

Maruti to launch the Maruti 800 duo soon

Maruti's dual fueled car the wagon R has been an extremely popular choice amid rising fuel prices and the overall cost-effectiveness of automotive LPG as compared to petrol.Maruti are technically unable to accommodate diesel engines in their smaller cars leaving aside the swift and hence they have no choice but at looking at other alternatives like CNG and LPG to combat the high fuel prices.[CNG being not as widely available as LPG ]

Also the Maruti 800 being in the market for well over 20 years and customers having higher aspirations has meant sales have fallen down drastically and maruti needed to take some corrective steps to improve sales especially with the expected arrival of the Tata NANO which is supposedly more fuel efficient than the Maruti 800.

The LPG variant of the maruti 800 will also be called duo[maruti 800 duo].The car is going to be launched some time next week with a price tag of about Rs.20,000 more than the petrol only version.The kits would be factory fitted and as with LPG vehicles nowadays switching between the two fuels should be a breeze and the driver would not experience a drastic loss in power.

But would this move be enough to rekindle interest in the good old Maruti 800,doubtful.

[source:Economic times]

Maruti adds new features to the Swift hatchback

This week has not been that good for car buyers,with companies raising prices faster than they can even manufacture cars.But here's some news to cheer you up.

Anybody going in for the swift will now get an in-dash audio system along with steering mounted controls.With the dzire getting it it was really just a matter of time.Tilt steering has also been added for the swift hatch.

The official explanation is Maruti is happy for selling 222,222 cars in just years time and this is a way of celebrating the 3rd anniversary of the Maruti swift.

Maruti Suzuki now wants to do a Honda

I guess selling a cheap car is a sin after all.Now the people's car manufacturer is all set to follow the footsteps of its more illustrious japanese rival,Honda.

Yes Maruti is planning to ditch the volumes game and is focusing more on margins and the premium segment.This comes in the wake of competition in terms of pricing from the Tata nano.Maruti now no longer will enjoy the pricing advantage.It instead is looking at selling sedans and other vehicles in the premium segment[upwards of Rs. 7 lakhs] and wants people who buy cars like the Nano to aspire to buy a Maruti one day.Maruti themselves have realised that one day people buying these cheap cars could easily afford the more expensive cars which would help Maruti in terms of margins a strategy maruti used well with the SX4 and now with the Dzire too.Moreover demand for the cheap cars is reducing as seen by reduced demand for cars like the maruti 800 wheras the more pricier swift is doing much better.

As far as the back end is concerned the parent company suzuki has shown the way forward with concepts like the Kizashi.The Kizashi would be targetted at D-segment customers and should be out by 2010.Maruti on the other hand has tied up with US based Raytheon to create a team of special sales executives who would look after the premium segment customers for dealers.Maruti has also hired more than 1000 engineers for R&D towards high-end products..Perhaps advertising less is part of this strategy for oflate Maruti ads have come down drastically.

The good old Maruti as we know may just seize to exist.What remains to be seen is whether Maruti spins off the premium segment into an altogether different division[like lexus for toyota].

However it is not as easy as it sounds Maruti Suzuki have to go a very long way before it can come anywhere close to a premium car company.

Ps: All SX4 owners are being personally thanked by maruti on the first anniversary of the sx4.

[source:Hindustan Times ]

Maruti Suzuki's biggest nightmare:Hyundai Motors

People are talking about Tata Motors and especially the Nano as Maruti Suzuki's biggest headache but if you look closely an even bigger threat exists in the form of Hyundai motors.

The santro had and is doing very well in India but what has leapfroged Hyundai into centrestage is no doubt the i10.With the i10 Hyundai are able to winover a major chunk of small car buyers.Infact right now if I had to shop for a small car I would pick nothing but the i10.The fact that the i10 would be getting a diesel by the year end[2008] would mean alarm bells ringing not only in the Maruti camp but Tata too for its indica could not have faced a bigger threat.Maruti on the other hand do not have a diesel in the B segment and the other fuel options[CNG,LPG] are not necessarily as widespread as diesel.

Hyundai do not have such a blockbuster product in the B+ segment but all that could change with the launch of the i20 again expected towards the end of the year[2008].In the C segment Hyundai has not suffered as badly as say a ford.Then there is the D segment,here too the new elantra with the diesel engine is expected to bring in numbers/

But the biggest threat would be the new small car which hyundai are targeting to be sold with a price tag of $3500[Rs.1,50,000 approx].This car should cause a lot of problems to maruti especially and if there is a diesel available too at similar pricing God help Maruti.Maruti however have some time at their disposal since this car is only expected by 2012.

Hyundai have done well to realise the importance of the Indian markets much before other rivals.They have also gambled by launching the i10 first in the market and ensuring it caters to local choice as well.The end result is if you keep track of monthly car sales figures as each month passes by the gap between hyundai and maruti suzuki keeps getting narrower and narrower.Unless maruti does something drastic I have no doubt that Hyundai could unseat Maruti from its number one position.

[image source:jalponik]

Nissan to target mass market segment in India

Fortunately one of the big three Japanese manufacturers thinks differently,with most manufacturers wanting to target the premium segment,Nissan however have a different strategy and want to target the mainstream market.

Their small car scheduled for production by 2010 is going to take on Hyundai and Maruti on the pricing front as well.Nissan would be pricing the car between Rs.3-4 lakhs.This car is said to be based on the Micra platform.

Nissan also plan to export Maruti Suzuki's a-star for exports.By 2012 we would see around 8 vehicles in the Nissan range which would include commercial vehicles as well.Expect a c-segment sedan as well.

Nissan also plan to launch the Murano crossover in India by early 2009.Expected price range Rs. 30-40 lakhs.

Nissan have been the slowest off the blocks and have some catching up to do in the Indian market.

[source:TimesofIndia]

Maruti Dzire - Long waiting period

As predicted before there is a huge waiting list for the Maruti dzire.Approximately three to four months.

Yes that is a very long time indeed and My suggestion is please pay only the booking amount only,even if the dealer assures you a faster delivery if you pay the whole amount upfront.

Maruti is already working at full capacity and its very unlikely the situation would improve quickly unless ofcourse maruti think of something drastic for instance cut production of its hatchback[swift] or even the sx4.

Maruti surely should have anticipated this considering the waiting period for the swift [hatch] diesel.What this also means is a diesel sx4 looks very unlikely in the near future.

Do we indians love diesels or what and if its a sedan then its icing on the cake.