Maruti Suzuki India Limited is planning to bring new variants of its popular small car models – Alto, Swift and WagonR in the Indian auto market. The Delhi Auto Expo showcased some of the new small cars coming to India and Chevrolet Beat is ready to make a strong statement in the country. Maruti still owns more than 50 percent market share but the new entrants are quite likely to be threatening. It’s hence time for Maruti to strengthen its portfolio and revamp it all over again.
The new variants of Alto, WagonR and Swift will not only be refreshed models but will also be cheaper than before. Maruti again intends to beat General Motors, Volkswagen, Honda and Toyota at the price game. General Motors has recently launched the most upbeat model of small car – Chevrolet Beat which is proclaimed to be great ‘value-for-money’ car. Maruti foresees 2010 as the toughest year so far for the company in India. “We have to gain volumes to protect our market share with global car makers entering the compact car segment,” said MSIL CEO, S Nakanishi.
The new Maruti Alto will be placed in sub-Rs. 3 lakh segment and will replace Maruti 800 model that will not be sold in 11 cities of India after BS IV norms are implemented. It is expected to roll out in next three months.
Maruti Swift will hit the market in second half of 2010 and will be Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 cheaper than the existing model. It will also have the new 1.2L KB series engine that will replace the old 1.3L engine. The new engine will fetch 8% excise duty cut benefit for Maruti which the company intends to pass on to its customers. “We would offer greater value for money with our new range of cars,” said IV Rao, Maruti Suzuki’s managing executive officer (engineering).
Maruti has already launched a new replacement of Versa – Maruti Eeco which is priced at Rs. 2.59 lakh in India. It has also recently launched a new refurbished Zen Estilo featuring the new KB series engine.
