[Games Goblin]

Originally Posted by John

There's no mention of the Jimny. Can we assume that this project has been put to rest?

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Had heard earlier that Maruti tried to put the 1.3 DDiS in a 5-door Jimny but failed and so put the plan to rest.

We have been shouting ourselves hoarse for a small diesel 4x4 in the range of 6-8 lakhs for years now !! Maruti should have launched the DDiS gypsy or better yet the Jimny a long time ago! If this plan has been shelved, then our only hope lies in the Renault Duster!

[Rahulkool]

Out of the 20 model at least 15 will be having 1.2l engine. Maruti with such a huge product range good sales can't launch swift sports. We have been waiting for past so many years but not going to happen I guess. Very disappointing.

[Ragul]

When I visit a MASS, I see they are unable to cope with the rush of cars.

Is MSIL expecting a miracle?

--Ragul

[xingamazon]

One more point from my side: (Sorry for being such a skeptic):

How on earth will they handle training all the service employees on knowing to operate on 20 vehicles, meaning people have to aclamatize to handling a car in a quarter. Dont think they will be able to maintain the quality of thier delivery then.
Also not to mention, the sales personnel have to understand the features of 20 vehicles, one a quarter, OMG, I am already feeling dizzyness.
Frankly, its too ambitous and risky.

[TaLiSmAn]

Hope Maruti comes up with better diesel engines in future either sourced or developed in-house. Our National engine-1.3 DDIS will run out of juice in another 2-3 yrs. Having the same engine for a number of models will not augur well if they are to take on the competition head on.

[murillo]

The news is already sending butterflies flying in my stomach. I hope they are able to ramp up their model portfolio without compromising on the quality of pre-sales and after-sales service. They should simultaneously ramp up dealership and service center capacity and capability in terms of knowledge, competence, and personnel to handle the augmented volumes.

If 70-80% of the new offerings are in the over-crowded small car segment, then it is imperative for MSIL to discontinue some old models to rationalize their product portfolio at various segments to avoid overlaps in products and price points. Agreed it is a tough decision to pull out models that still do decent numbers month-on-month and keep the cash register ringing.

I am eager to know if anything is coming out of MSIL-VW cooperation. A VW-engineered car mated to MSIL's strengths will be a unique proposition and will gain significant mind share.

murillo

[vinya_jag]

I want the following models:
A two door convertible with a soft top - (The San storm like vehicle)
The gypsy - (This one for the Himalayan duty, Gymni somehow looks odd)
A 2 door small car with a lot of muscle - (A mini cooper would be apt for a city like Bangalore)
The old Zen with a new engine and the same interior/exterior
A 2 door coupe - (With a 3 liter petrol turbo)
A hybrid car for the masses
Maruti 800 - (I want Maruti to do a Fiat 500)

I know I know, dont pinch me, I know we are going to get only some of these:

Zen Estilo, this time renamed in German, and three more colours Lemon yellow, scarlet and beige
The Ritzz, this time with an extra z
B-star
SX5 with a supercharger and 140 BHP, (One for the alpha males)
Dezir with its tail shortened
Alto, limited edition (Body coloured bumpers as standard)
Wagon-R with 3 fuel options (Petrol, LPG and Kerosone)

[anandjha]

SX4 is conspicuous by its absence. Don't they want to go aggressive with it? Seems Maruti aka Suzuki has given up, at least for the time being, on becoming a leader in premium sedan segment.

Ritz backlift was long overdue. I think Suzuki, like we had in case of the first Santro, had deliberately kept it that way so as have something to improvise upon when the refurbishment gets due.

[mayanksabharwal]

This is definitely over ambitious and trying to create a buzz in Indian Auto Market. 4 new products a year is next to impossible (provided Che Guavera does not incarnate and made CEO of Maruti) keeping in mind the workers-management issues they are facing. Maruti is definitely concerned about its losing share and thus want to send a signal to end users that they are still around.

[Gooney]

Haha. This is not so ambitious as it sounds. The first of the 20 has already hit the roads — the new Swift. Add to it the new Dzire, Dzire CS, Alto, A-Star and Ritz facelifts and RIII(as mentioned in an earlier post). Then the Sx4 is almost nearing the second phase of its lifecycle — a facelift. Also, expect a WagonR engine upgrade, in 2 years time, and an Estilo facelift. Hopefully, we will see a brand new Vitara (with much higher local content, and probably cheaper) in these 5 years.

Net, net, I expect to see 2-3 totally new products from MSIL among the so-called 20 'new products' that the company plans to launch in the next 5 years.

[romeomidhun]

Regarding A-Star facelift and Ritz back-lift:

A-Star needs a thorough facelift with an increase in the overall length by at least another 200mm which releases more rear legroom and boot-space while keeping the height of the car the same, a new 'smoother' grill and headlamp that is not bulging out.

For Ritz, just a back-lift - by making the rear a convex shaped one - will spoil the dynamic tipped-forward stance of the car and make it look like a pig, IMO. The car's arched roof needs to be made a flat one like that of WR or Swift.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

This is an over ambitious future projection by MUL. They already have labour issues which crop up every alternate month.

While I agree that their labour problems at present are severe, let's not forget this is a company that has churned out a 100,000 vehicles month-after-month in the recent past. The labour problem is only temporary, and I don't think will have production impact on the long-term future of Maruti. Trust me, Maruti has some really solid talent in its management.

I also hope all these 20 cars will not have the same engine . knowing MUL's strategy to share the same engine across various vehicles.

What's wrong with that? The 1.2L petrol is amongst the segment best, as is the 1.3L MJD.

Originally Posted by Mr.Beat

The word Ritz "Backlift"

seriously! The first time I hear of this word, and couldn't agree more on its suitability.

Originally Posted by sachinj12

4 products a year is definitely aggressive.

Originally Posted by mayanksabharwal

4 new products a year is next to impossible

Including facelifts et al, hardly so. They've done this previously.

[fuel_addict]

Originally Posted by GTO

While I agree that their labour problems at present are severe, let's not forget this is a company that has churned out a 100,000 vehicles month-after-month in the recent past. The labour problem is only temporary, and I don't think will have production impact on the long-term future of Maruti. Trust me, Maruti has some really solid talent in its management.

As much as you, I hope that is true. I only hope the quality of the cars is not compromised in the process of churning out more vehicles per month.

Originally Posted by GTO

What's wrong with that? The 1.2L petrol is amongst the segment best, as is the 1.3L MJD.

Nothing except that the uniqueness of a particular engine is lost. If all cars have the same engine, more often than not the lowest priced car will be the outright largest seller if the equipment levels are decent. I would like to see a variety of engine options instead of the same engine across the board. I agree that the 1.2 petrol and 1.3 MJD are the best in their class.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

Nothing except that the uniqueness of a particular engine is lost.

The uniqueness of a particular engine may be lost, but not that of car as a whole. Eg: old Swift and Ritz. Though both had the same K-Series engine, both cars were unique in its own terms.

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

If all cars have the same engine, more often than not the lowest priced car will be the outright largest seller if the equipment levels are decent.

Not exactly. Eg: the same old Swift and Ritz. Though pricier, Swift out-sold Ritz by a good margin, due to the uniqueness associated to Swift as a car.
Same is the case for WR and A-Star.

IMO, every car has a character associated with it. And this character is formed not only by the engine, but also by the design, features and interior space.

[rajanprash]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Not exactly. Eg: the same old Swift and Ritz. Though pricier, Swift out-sold Ritz by a good margin, due to the uniqueness associated to Swift as a car.

Would not quite agree on this aspect. When i went in for a Ritz back in 2009, i realised that people had a different perception towards the Ritz. During my ICE install, one man touched the dashboard and told me "Plastic quality is not as good as SHIFT (many people call it shift here)".
No offense meant here but IMHO there was no uniqueness at all associated with a swift. It was too common a car, this made me wait and go for the Ritz.