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Maruti Suzuki expects the Kizashi sedan to do what the Grand Vitara sports utility vehicle could not, which is to give it a strong foothold in the premium car market.
Strength
According to company officials, the petrol-engine Grand Vitara was at a disadvantage in a market dominated by diesel SUVs. In contrast, the luxury sedan market is more inclined towards petrol which is Suzuki's strength.
Mr Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager, Marketing, told Business Line that as Maruti looks to attract a new set of customers, ‘Kizashi' will be given more prominence in the marketing and communication activities over the mother brand.
Stronger ground
“The current brand architecture will remain but we cannot drive our strategy on the core value of the mother brand. The Kizashi brand will be given high emphasis as different values matter in different segments. The Kizashi is also on a stronger ground than the Vitara as it competes with petrol cars,” he said.
According to Mr Srivastava, with the changing demography, it made sense to launch such a car.
Image change
“Maruti has been changing its image for the last few years towards a more youthful company. We want our customers to remain and have a product available from our stable as they move up in life,” he added.
With the Kizashi launch date set for February 2, the company will first focus on the top 11 cities, followed by the top 20, which represent 63 per cent and 80 per cent of the market for such cars. Positioned as a “luxury sports sedan”, it shares the Grand Vitara's 2.4 litre petrol engine with power output upwards of 170 bhp. It will be available in both automatic and manual transmission options.
The Kizashi, which will compete with the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Skoda Superb, is expected to be priced in the Rs 17-19 lakh. This product segment represents just one per cent of the car market and has grown 53 per cent in the first three quarters of this fiscal to 13,838 units.
This is higher than the sales in the whole of 2009-10 which totalled 13,128 units.
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