Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country's largest passenger car maker, has discontinued the import of its Kizashi saloon in the domestic market. Dubbed as MSIL's most ambitious and expensive product till date, Kizashi failed to create a major impact in its Indian innings and entailed the company to stop its new imports at Indian shores.
Reportedly, Maruti Suzuki introduced the executive luxury saloon Kizashi in February 2011, with a hope to command some presence in the premium segment of the Indian market. However, the sedan carried a massive onus of being exorbitantly priced, which was not a thing being previously associated with the Maruti Suzuki brand. The company aspired to set the tone of its upcoming premium products in line with Kizashi, but the gamble failed comprehensively. MSIL pitched the premium Kizashi saloon against the well established executive offerings like Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, who never really received any feeble competition from the Japanese imported car.
At present, the company is looking to clear out its stock of Kizashi and to achieve the purpose, MSIL has declared to offer a Rs. 5 lacs discount on the premium saloon exclusively for the Indian car enthusiasts. MSIL, the country's favourite passenger car maker, forayed into the high end luxury premium with Kizashi via the Completely Built Unit (CBU) route, which was a big reason behind its pricey tag.
Commenting on the future aspects of Indian audience getting Kizashi saloon again, Mayank Pareek, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, said, “Yes, it will come to India only when there are orders.” Therefore, the company will only entertain orders regarding the Kizashi executive sedan, when Indian car enthusiasts start showing interest in it.
Despite being the undisputed champion of the Indian automobile sector Maruti Suzuki has had a depressing history, while talking in terms of its premium product offerings. For instance, MSIL's premium Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Grand Vitara suffered similar fate earlier and still is considered ultra expensive for Indian taste. MSIL imported the Grand Vitara SUV from Japan as well, which contributed to its overly priced image among the domestic car enthusiasts and is currently available via placing special orders. Thus, Indian audience has now the option of getting two overtly priced products of Japanese make – premium Kizashi sedan and Grand Vitara SUV. It is going to be interesting to note if MSIL receives any orders at all for the cars and if the Rs. 5 lacs discount helps the company in clearing out its pending stock of Kizashi units.
At present, the Maruti Suzuki Kizashi premium luxury sedan fetches a steep price tag of Rs. 16.5 lacs for its manual model, while the automatic model carries a price cap of Rs. 17.5 lacs. Top industry experts believe that the Rs. 5 lacs discount could come in handy for MSIL in selling its remaining stock of Kizashi’s in a jiffy.
