[volkman10]

Maruti Suzuki to make changes to its 'Nexa' strategy.

The company will embark on a new strategy by selling the forthcoming new products in both the regular Arena and premium Nexa dealerships.



With this the automobile manufacturer will be looking at ways to cut down the production and development costs and decrease the lead-time, we have seen several new partnerships emerge in recent times.

One such relationship is what Suzuki and Toyota have embarked on. The new strategic moves are said to be focussed on developing new cars at lower cost bracket with quicker turnaround time. This would ultimately result in introducing new vehicles at regular intervals and to be on top of the proceedings in response to the ever-changing customer requirements

Maruti Suzuki will reportedly launch “one such product with two versions every year”.

-They have shown glimpses of such strategy as the XL6 based on the Ertiga entered the fray less than a year after the second generation MPV debuted in late 2018

- The first re-badged model under Suzuki-Toyota partnership is up on sale since mid-2019.( Glanza)

- Coming up next will be the WagonR based NEXA product 'XL5'

-The new strategy would be implemented on the Vitara Brezza. The next-generation of the compact SUV will arrive around 2021 and it will be sold through Nexa and Arena showrooms. Presumably, the Nexa-bound model could have upmarket amenities

A new model would incur a cost of Rs. 900-1,100 crore while, on the contrary, a new variant is just around Rs. 200-250 crore even with drastic changes.

Link

[PetrolheadRup]

Maruti is looking into using the same model to make two variants. This move is aimed at reducing costs and improving turnaround time.

“Maruti is expected to launch one such product with two versions every year. Most of the competition is also coming in those segments, which is addressed through Nexa," Cost savings will be a huge benefit under the new approach, the person said.

It is mentioned that while a new model takes around ₹1000 crores, it costs only ₹200 crore to develop a significantly differentiated variant.

Selling different versions of the same model would therefore require only an incremental cost of about 20%, which would be significantly lower than developing a new model for sale either through Nexa or Arena dealership, the person said. The costs on research and development would also halve if the models are built by re-engineering existing vehicle platforms, the person added.

The first car that would be upgraded by this move will be the next gen Brezza.
Seems like this strategy was also used in the Ertiga and XL6 duo and it has worked well.
I think this is a great move but there needs to be a significant difference between the two variants so as to ensure that the premium/Nexa variant does not lose its premium image and fails to justify the higher price.
Source: https://www.livemint.com/companies/n...706033511.html

[NFS2024]

I remember writing about this before in some other thread. So basically we will have two versions of the same car from Maruti. Lets take some examples and see how it pans out

1. Swift: What will be the differentiation? Rear A/C Vents, Arms rests etc? 4 Air bags with body cladding compared to the Arena model? Different engine options? A 1.2 and a Boosterjet?

2. Brezza: I don't know how they can sell two versions of this model unless they plonk different engines. A 1.2 for the Arena and a 1.5 or a Boosterjet for Nexa? With and without Sunroof?

3. Ertiga: We already know what has been done

Not sure how this strategy will work out.

[Amit_breakfree]

So now we will have 3 designs of same car:
1. Maruti Arena - Basic
2. Maruti Nexa - Premium
3. Toyota - Just copy and paste Suzuki badge with Toyota

It just keeps getting messier day-by-day.

Also, we should not forget that we will get the same decade old switchgear in all the cars, plus same-sized tires and engine, same quality of materials, and nothing new.

[KPR]

For a premium offering decent build quality is expected (like SCross). Same light weight design with just scraping through safety tests will yield failure for them in premium segment. Premium segment buyers will look for good build quality. They can only make a mass segment buyer to splurge with their so called premium offering not actually a premium buyer.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by NFS2024

---
2. Brezza: I don't know how they can sell two versions of this model unless they plonk different engines. A 1.2 for the Arena and a 1.5 or a Boosterjet for Nexa? With and without Sunroof?

--

It could work with Arena selling a 5 seat model, while Nexa could get the 7 seat version.

[NFS2024]

Originally Posted by volkman10

It could work with Arena selling a 5 seat model, while Nexa could get the 7 seat version.

I doubt if that would happen with the Brezza.

Maruti might also be under pressure from Arena dealers for missing out on some of the car models that might come in the future, like what is happening now. so this strategy will take care of those issues.

This is no way to go about protecting your 50% market share if i may say so.

[SmartCat]

For consumers, this strategy makes sense only if the Nexa variant meets European safety standards (EuroNCAP rating, 4 to 6 airbags, ESP etc)

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

For consumers, this strategy makes sense only if the Nexa variant meets European safety standards (EuroNCAP rating, 4 to 6 airbags, ESP etc)

Now now...Are we dreaming things about Maruti?
Unless they actually make the cars stronger & get them certified through actual crash tests with star ratings, just adding airbags and ESP et all shouldn't make any difference to consumers (hopefully). And I don't see that happening any time soon considering the Heartect is a new platform not even at middle of lifecycle.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Now now...Are we dreaming things about Maruti? --

Yes I am dreaming and awaiting for the day when Suzuki Jimny come to India

[SideView]

This had to be the next step.

First open premium outlets and slowly gain a foothold on the premium market that they were failing.

Hopefully they can justify the “premium” they will charge with better build quality, features and safety.

[KPR]

Originally Posted by SideView

Hopefully they can justify the “premium” they will charge with better build quality, features and safety.

We saw a sample of what they did with XL6

[ani_meher]

I thought the next car in line would be WagonR, as we have a running thread on new WagonR. Though there is slight confusion whether it is a Nexa version or an electric one.

[Vulken Auto]

First Im tired of this weekly plans, PR of maruti suzuki and then this is what happens when a car manufacturer has many outlets with few models, 2 engines.

[SoumenD]

Now what? A premium S-Presso/wagon-R with 4seats(captain seats at the rear) and some more cladding along with the DRL made standard & alloy wheels. Sell it from Nexa and call it maybe X-Presso & charge 1L premium over standard arena models?

Originally Posted by SideView

Hopefully they can justify the “premium” they will charge with better build quality, features and safety.

Even Toyota didn't do that and continued with same Baleno. Maruti doing that is absolutely out of question. Unless market rejects their models for being structurally unstable, nothing can change. And that happening is impossible for next few years atleast.