The Hindu Business Line : Maruti offers more value with new features

Maruti is clearly the laggard in the premium sedan segment. In order to catch up with the leaders in the segment, Maruti has chosen to load up the Suzuki SX4 with safety features that are currently not being offered in this segment and by pricing the new sedan aggressively.

The four cars that are featured in the table, and the Chevrolet Aveo, will be the real competitors in terms of build quality, price positioning and performance. For purposes of comparison, only the 1.5-litre to 1.6-litre engine variants of the four sedans have been sized up.

And clearly, with its all-new engine and feature-rich package, the SX4 seems to offer more value than the other three. Current sedan market leader - Honda City - is sorely lacking in safety features, though it still might be the class leader in terms of fuel efficiency.

Maruti's gameplan of launching only two variants of the SX4, both bunched together at the top-end, must have borne out of its experience with the Swift, which sells more of the VXi and ZXi variants than of the LXi. It has also probably enabled the new sedan to compare more favourably with the base variants of competing cars.

But, it might also be an attempt by Maruti at thwarting the taxi segment from taking to the SX4 in a big way, which could be a big image dampener in this segment. And already for Maruti its past image (as a small car manufacturer) is clearly going to be the bigger challenge to handle.

For now Maruti is going to have to depend on the new M Series 1.6-litre petrol engine to bring it the sales volumes and its big competitor here is the Honda City. Going by the Swift diesel's experience, which has found ready acceptance amongst diesel car buyers, Maruti will be hoping that there will be a similar surge in demand when the SX4 is also offered with the same 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engine.

It can then take on the current diesel sedan toppers - Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Verna.

More Stories on : Cars | Performance | Strategy | Maruti Udyog Ltd

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Infosys BPO gets Level 4 stamping

Business confidence in Q4 down, says FICCI survey

Oil marketing stocks turn top draws

UP mills run Rs 1,600-cr arrears on cane purchase

Maruti offers more value with new features

DLF going ahead with IPO

Adobe expands school project to other States

RBI tells banks to keep loan rates reasonable

UBI cuts home loan rates

Chidambaram rejects demand for hike in post office small savings rates

Basel II: PSBs minimise investment risks