Every second car that is sold in India is supposedly a Maruti model. Now the brand has decided to initiate a new range of dealerships across the country to focus on the sale on premium models. This is part of the plan, according to which, the car plans to double its volume to two million models within the next five years. Maruti Suzuki would be operating under the same brand image, with a slightly different ‘Touch & Feel’ that would set it apart from the rest. This would focus on its high-end cars, where Maruti has almost a negligible presence despite several attempts in this sector.
This would help the manufacturer to separate out its models in the Indian market and would target the larger auto markets like Mumbai and Delhi. It is expected that there would be around 30 to 35 dealerships will come up in major cities within the next year.
R S Kalsi, Executive Director of Maruti Suzuki said, "As we move ahead, our parent Suzuki would be introducing new models and we aim to increase focus to wider portfolio of cars. There are some models like the Swift and DZire compact sedan that are generating high volumes, while the contribution of other cars is significantly low. With these new dealerships we aim to spread our volumes evenly along with rendering a totally different sales experience to Indian customers as we gradually evolve as a full-range carmaker."
The annual sales of Maruti is slightly over a million and is dominated by the traditional portfolio of Swift, Alto, DZire and Wagon R, which contributes to over 70 per cent of its combined sales. The Celerio hatch and Ciaz sedan have not been able to make the impact that was expected of them. Maruti is extremely keen to improve its brand image in India. Incidentally, the company has portrayed its image as a manufacturer of commuter models and it strictly wishes to enter the premium segment. Also, the company tries to improvise its marketing setup before it launches new cars, which would also premium models. The SX4 SCross model will be launched in April. There is also a new hatch model, which has been codenamed YRA and is positioned above Swift in the pipeline.
