Waiting period for top end variants of Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets longer

According to recent reports, the top variant of the newly-launched Maruti Suzuki Ertiga will be delivered later than expected as the ZDi diesel variant now faces indefinite waiting period. The demand for the model was already extremely high since its launch and amplified as the price of petrol was hiked across the country. Now, it has been reported that those who have booked the ZXi (petrol) and ZDi variants will have to wait much longer than expected.

Reportedly, the Ertiga ZXi attracts waiting period of up to 6 months, whereas the same for ZDi cannot be determined at present. On the other hand, buyers would have to wait for 3 to 4 months for the LDi and VDi variants. Prior to this development, those who booked the Ertiga ZDi within the first week of the model's launch were told that the car would be delivered to them within 6 weeks.

However, the largest car manufacturer of the country, Maruti Suzuki, said that it was not facing issues. Dealers, on the other hand, stated that the long waiting period for the car is because of a shortage of alloy wheels that are used in the top end petrol and diesel variants. Notably, dealers are ready to retail the VDi or LDi variants with the same set of alloy wheels from the company's accessory division instead of delivering the ZDi.

The huge demand for the top end variant of the Ertiga has been attributed to the relatively small price difference of Rs. 60,000 between ZDi and VDi variants. In terms of features, the former has airbags, alloy wheels, height adjustable driver’s seat, rear defogger and rear washer wiper, which the latter lacks. Considering that the demand for the base and mid-level variants of any car is higher than that of the top end edition, Maruti Suzuki expected that fewer than 30 per cent of the buyers order ZDi or ZXi versions of the Ertiga. It is reported that the bookings for the top end petrol model are responsible for approximately 50 per cent of the orders made by the customers.