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

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.

Suzuki to import cars into Japan

Yes thats right,so far Japan has been the hotspot as far as cars are concerned and Japan has only been used to exporting cars from its shores especially when it came to japanese manufacturers like Suzuki.But now Suzuki in a move which highlights the fact that how un-japanese it is getting is planning to import its made in Europe[hungary to be precise],Suzuki Splash into the Japanese market.

The splash has been designed primarily keeping the european market in mind.Already Suzuki sells more cars in India than the Japanese market.

Why suzuki plans to do so is that its plants in Japan are already running at full capacity and the load of an additional vehicle would not be possible.Also Suzuki is planning to change its overall strategy from being a volume player to a more premium segment manufacturer and cars like the Suzuki Splash come in this category which offer higher margins.

[source:Bloomberg]

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