[dZired]

Maruti Suzuki has announced that its first ever Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV), the Super Carry, will go on sale by the end of August 2016. It will initially be sold in three cities - Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Ludhiana. The Super Carry is priced at Rs. 4.01 lakh (ex-showroom) in Ludhiana, while Ahmedabad and Kolkata get it at Rs. 4.03 lakh and Rs. 4.11 lakh, respectively.

The Super Carry LCV in India is powered by a 793 cc, twin-cylinder diesel engine that churns out 32 BHP @ 3,500 rpm and 75 Nm of torque @ 2,000 rpm. This engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. Maruti claims that this setup can take the Super Carry to a top speed of 80 km/h. The company states a fuel economy figure of 22.07 km/l for the LCV.

The Super Carry boasts of a maximum payload capacity of 740 kg. The LCV measures 3,800 mm in length, 1,562 mm in width and 1,868 mm in height. It has a wheelbase of 2,110 mm and a ground clearance of 160 mm.

On the inside, the Super Carry gets basic features such as a mobile charging socket, dual assist grip, and a provision for a stereo. The instrument cluster consists of an odometer, trip meter, fuel gauge, and a digital clock.

Maruti is offering the Super Carry with a standard warranty of 2 years / 72,000 km (whichever is earlier). The vehicle will be sold through a dedicated commercial sales channel.



Link to Team-BHP News

[rahul4321]

Maruti is the king of sharing the parts bin. Bet this LCB has an Omni Steering wheel, Eeco gear knob, Omni ABC pedals and a dashboard lifted right out of the first generation Alto

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

Maruti is the king of sharing the parts bin. Bet this LCB has an Omni Steering wheel, Eeco gear knob, Omni ABC pedals and a dashboard lifted right out of the first generation Alto

I am sure they have shared a lot of parts like knobs and buttons. The steering appears to be all new though.

Irony-Their sporty hatch Swift lacks them, but the LCV has thumb contours on the steering wheel.

[condor]

A Celerio diesel with a single cab and a load body ? A few things here & there different ..

[DriveOnceMore]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

Maruti is the king of sharing the parts bin. Bet this LCB has an Omni Steering wheel, Eeco gear knob, Omni ABC pedals and a dashboard lifted right out of the first generation Alto

Super carry is based on the same platform as that of the Omni and Eeco.
I doubt your point about the dashboard, though.

Let's see now how people will react after seeing 'S' symbol on this tempo.
Many people did not like it when Tata Motors did the reverse way. (Entry from Commercial to Passenger vehicle car market)

I am quite sure that people will only like it and it won't be a 'brand diluting' act for them. "Afterall, it's Maruti and they have VERY Strong A.S.S."

I don't understand in which direction Suzuki wants to head to in India - the premium NEXA way or this new commercial market way?
If they want to go in all directions, they may not reach anywhere.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by dZired

The vehicle will be sold through a dedicated commercial sales channel.

While they will have a new sales channel, what about service ?

It will be interesting if the Super Carry ends up being serviced alongside the other passenger cars from the Maruti stable

*The interiors remind me of the older Maruti 800, a retro 80s-90s feeling ?

[Viju]

Anxiously waiting to see how this pans out for MSIL. As an ex-employee and an admirer of the company, I wish them good-luck in the CV segment. The Omni and the Eeco though good (utilitarian), were never going to be big volume sellers with their petrol / CNG only options.

MSIL has thoroughly bench-marked the competition and even gone back to the drawing board once before coming up with this final version. Knowing the company, they don't do half-jobs, or release vehicles without complete validation. Therefore I am pretty sure it will withstand the (ab)use in the hands of the end-users. I hope this opens up a new chapter for MSIL and leads to even something bigger!

[libranof1987]

This will make the good people at Tata and Mahindra nervous! LCVs have largely been the playground for these two and Suzuki's entry will cause discomfort.

Given how LCVs share parts and platform generously with passenger cars, and Suzuki's financial and R&D might, they can build a strong portfolio reasonably quick.

Originally Posted by DriveOnceMore

I don't understand in which direction Suzuki wants to head to in India - the premium NEXA way or this new commercial market way?
If they want to go in all directions, they may not reach anywhere.

I have a strong feeling Maruti Suzuki will just about surprise us with how effectively they are able to do all!

[GTO]

Tata & Mahindra must be keeping a close eye on the market's response. Am sure they've placed an order for a couple already, to be stripped apart & studied.

Livemint.com talks about the delays. It's not been easy for Maruti as their current CVs were received & sold 'as-is' from Suzuki Japan.

The only blemish to the stellar record has been Maruti Suzuki’s plans to launch a light commercial vehicle (LCV), code-named Y9T. Due for launch in the last quarter of 2014-15, the vehicle has been delayed by 18 months.

“First time in over 30 years of company’s history, a product is delayed,” said a top company executive directly involved with the matter, on condition of anonymity.

Maruti Suzuki has been forced to go back to the design board and reconfigure the product entirely.

CV fleets in India will see the '740 kg' payload rating as merely a suggestion and overload the heck out of it. Better be over-engineered to carry the extra load - no one understands that better than Tata.

Tata has innumerable ACE variants (link) with load ratings comparable to the Super Carry.

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Irony-Their sporty hatch Swift lacks them, but the LCV has thumb contours on the steering wheel.

Originally Posted by DriveOnceMore

Let's see now how people will react after seeing 'S' symbol on this tempo.
Many people did not like it when Tata Motors did the reverse way. (Entry from Commercial to Passenger vehicle car market)

I am quite sure that people will only like it and it won't be a 'brand diluting' act for them. "Afterall, it's Maruti and they have VERY Strong A.S.S."

There's no question of that happening. Maruti sells 10,000 Omnis & Eecos every month, primarily to the commercial segment. It's also been long associated with the cheapest car in India (until the Nano arrived) and lakhs of taxis (including black & yellow WagonRs).

Originally Posted by NPV

While they will have a new sales channel, what about service ?

Just wondering what's the point of yet another sales channel? Additional investment (though might be lesser as these will be on the outskirts), additional logistical requirements etc. And what will these dealers sell? Just one vehicle? I don't see any other Maruti CV on the horizon, unless of course, they will also get to sell Omnis & Eecos (which will make existing dealers unhappy).

[Prafful_Rathod]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just wondering what's the point of yet another sales channel? Additional investment (though might be lesser as these will be on the outskirts), additional logistical requirements etc. And what will these dealers sell? Just one vehicle? I don't see any other Maruti CV on the horizon, unless of course, they will also get to sell Omnis & Eecos (which will make existing dealers unhappy).

Exactly, Sustainability of the dealers will be the key here for their success in CV front. Nexa initiative survived because of Baleno and now Ignis slated to go there as well, so that has given comfort to the Nexa channel. As such dont see any other product in pipeline in the immediate future in their CV portfolio. The market in sub 1 ton. category has infact contracted in last couple of years.

If there are lot of carry over parts / parts sharing amongst Omni / Eeco / Carry then service might not be an issue, otherwise setting up separate service network will be a task in itself.

[Turbanator]

Just wondering what's the point of yet another sales channel? Additional investment (though might be lesser as these will be on the outskirts), additional logistical requirements

exactly, Sustainability of the dealers will be the key here for their success in CV front

I have seen one in Ludhiana on GT Road ready but locked since past many months ( has different red colour branding) , must have got operational now. Given the way Maruti operates,most likely these dealerships in the first stage would have given to existing Maruti dealers - it's easy- pick the largest dealer in the city and tell him to open new outlet . No one can object, they can be easily rewarded via Maruti/Nexa by giving more allocations of in-demand models. Besides they are very strict and don't allow dealers to have any other brand dealership across any segments so enterprising dealers will also be willing to try something new.

I think by bringing new commercial showrooms separately they have done the right thing and given the past track record of Maruti this new venture can be equally successful.

[volkman10]

Maruti Suzuki has recently launched its LCV- Super Carry in India.
Super Carry will be initially available for sale in three cities: Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Ludhiana. It will be retailed through a dedicated ‘Commercial’ sales channel.

The company plans to sell more products through the 'commercial' dealerships.




Apart from the Super carry, the commercial showrooms would sell the Eeco Flexi, Omni Flexi and the Dzire Tour as well.

With the launch of these commercial outlets, Maruti Suzuki is going to be the first auto manufacturer in the country with three different showrooms. Alongside the Maruti Suzuki standard dealerships, the automaker sells its premium cars like S-Cross and Baleno through the Nexa premium dealerships. Additionally it has True value catering to the used car market.

Source

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by NPV

It will be interesting if the Super Carry ends up being serviced alongside the other passenger cars from the Maruti stable

They heard you I suppose .

LCVs will have a separate show room and with such a thought, I am inclined to believe that service too will be isolated from passenger cars.

Check the post above.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Super Carry will be initially available for sale in three cities: Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Ludhiana. It will be retailed through a dedicated ‘Commercial’ sales channel.

Very interesting mix of cities; wonder how they arrived at that.

The company plans to sell more products through the 'commercial' dealerships.
..
Apart from the Super carry, the commercial showrooms would sell the Eeco Flexi, Omni Flexi and the Dzire Tour as well.

Wonder why they had to include the DZire Tour as a commercial car? Are they worried about taxi drivers sharing space with prospective customers of say, the Ciaz?

More importantly, the Commercial showrooms will probably take a lot of time until they reach the same amount of network that existing showrooms do; this will only make DZire Tour prospects run around far and wide to evaluate/book the car.

This three pronged approach: regular, Nexa, commercial, is going to piss quite some people off; although, I doubt to the extent that they don't consider a Suzuki product.

[nkrishnap]

Another vehicle added to the list of slow moving overloaded vehicles on highways, flyovers and busy roads. A way to increase chaos.