[volkman10]

Going by the response seen on day 1 of its appearance, Maruti Suzuki should prioritize on bringing the Jimny to India

[manjunathkl]

I don't have much hope on the FutureE concept. Even if it comes to life, the way A-Star, S-presso concepts were dumbed down in production, this will also be dumbed down.

Existing cars - having a boring portfolio of cars is one thing, spending crores of rupees to showcase the same boring cars so that they are branded "boring" is another.

Swift hybrid with paddle shifters is a cruel joke. It will not come to India in this gen of Swift. As long as a novice customer thinks, "Smart-Hybrid" must be smarter, better than "Hybrid", Maruti will not launch any real hybrid. Or they might launch it grudgingly if the govt mandates it with regulations.

What about those body-kits on age-old cars? How did they dare to showcase that dark circles version of Celerio? Absolutely no taste.

Most Maruti fans had expected All-new Vitara Brezza, what they got is All-new head-lamps, tail-lamps and front grill. Axed Diesel engine, age-old 4 speed auto in every car, lesser mileage engine.

What is shocking is Suzuki Vitara is not showcased at all in a market that is SUV crazy. What were they thinking? Whether they launch it or not, it should've been showcased.

Jimny, for India, the name plate should've been "Gypsy". It has an Indian connection, and Indian consumers will relate to it. I can't understand the decisions of Maruti. Maruti uses its successful names like Zen, Baleno on totally unrelated cars. But when a historic hit model's next-gen is showcased, they use its global name instead of its popular old name. Or it may be a new game of Maruti to make people think its a brand new car being introduced now.

No diesel across the range - I thought Maruti is going to pull some diesel engines from Toyota at the last minute and surprise the competitors. But that is not looking to be a possibility now.

After all the glamourous announcement of a strategic partnership between Maruti and Toyota. What do we see here? Maruti participates in Auto Expo, Toyota doesn't. With all the expectations of car sharing between these japs, some of such badge engineered cars must have been showcased. No such display (even when the current line-up is boring as well). Looks like this partnership is not going to fly afterall.

Will the masses still buy Maruti cars in large numbers? Absolutely yes. They are not bothered about Auto Expo or outdated technology. All they care about is mileage, resale, and service center within 1/2 km. As long as Maruti caters to this, they will remain the largest automaker. But surely they will lose the premium segment, which does research on the internet before booking a car. Brezza/Ertiga will be their range-topper. Toyota cannot save Maruti there, because Toyota itself will be beaten black and blue by the new entrants.

[chaturgaurav]

Originally Posted by manjunathkl

Existing cars - having a boring portfolio of cars is one thing, spending crores of rupees to showcase the same boring cars so that they are branded "boring" is another.

Oh this is savage! but then it is true to the core. As far as the discussion goes here and also the article by "non car guys" from Kotak, Maruti has only taken a beating by showcasing their existing portfolio.

Vitara is a clear miss. Maruti cannot compete with Creta and Seltos with Brezza or may be they don't want to.

[manjunathkl]

Originally Posted by chaturgaurav

Vitara is a clear miss. Maruti cannot compete with Creta and Seltos with Brezza or may be they don't want to.

S-cross was supposed to compete with Creta and Seltos. It failed miserably. Maruti cannot play its usual tricks in premium segments. Vitara is also not coming. So, Maruti has given a walk-over to Hyundai, Kia, Tata, MG, and everyone.

Tata has to fill the gap between Nexon and Harrier. It is a big gap.

[Carma2017]

It is the common man like us and the media that pits S Cross against Creta / Seltos. As far as the Suzuki supplier community is concerned, the targetted volumes provided to them was around 2500-3000 per month. S Cross achieved the same comfortably with a peak monthly sale of 5000 units or so. So, there is no question of it being a failure.
But yes, Suzuki has not targetted the so lower end of premium segment ( Above 10 Lac INR) till date. The first vehicles in these segment would not be coming before 2022 as per me. Then onwards i believe we will see the fruits of labour of Toyota Suzuki partnership, be it hybrids, EVs or so called premium segment cars.

[manjunathkl]

Originally Posted by Carma2017

... As far as the Suzuki supplier community is concerned, the targetted volumes provided to them was around 2500-3000 per month. S Cross achieved the same comfortably with a peak monthly sale of 5000 units or so. So, there is no question of it being a failure.

Since May of 2019, S-cross shipments didn't cross 1,500 units per month. Even after the facelift. Now, even the Diesel engine is gone. I can only guess what will happen to the numbers in 2020. I think it is a failure even though not an utter flop (Read Captur/Kicks).

Originally Posted by Carma2017

But yes, Suzuki has not targetted the so lower end of premium segment ( Above 10 Lac INR) till date. The first vehicles in these segment would not be coming before 2022 as per me. Then onwards i believe we will see the fruits of labour of Toyota Suzuki partnership, be it hybrids, EVs or so called premium segment cars.

Maybe. But by that time, other manufacturers would've launched a series of EVs, Hybrids, Diesels and captured the market. It won't be a walkover for Maruti-Toyota like how it used to be all these years.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by manjunathkl

Tata has to fill the gap between Nexon and Harrier. It is a big gap.

not sure I understand the big gap here, what exactly are we asking for?

[ARAY]

Sharing a few pictures of Jimny at Auto Expo.

[nickatnite]

Maruti please bring pressure to bear on your Suzuki bosses to bring the Jimny to India at a reasonable price point and not as an import costing between 1.5 to 2.0 million rupees as i understand from news reports. Haven't the Suzukis made enough money from India and it's time they gave something back.

Suzuki sells an average of 1500 cars in the UK car market each month, (1794 in January 2020) which is a top ten world car market and you can walk into a Suzuki dealer there and buy a Jimny. Here we get the likes of SPresso. I dare Suzuki to sell the SPresso in Japan. I know this is a dare i will not lose.

[manjunathkl]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

not sure I understand the big gap here, what exactly are we asking for?

We tend to go by the industry definitions of segments E.g A, B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, D2 etc. But customers have their own idea of segment classification. I will talk about one such important segmentation based on size here:

Sub-4 meter SUVs: Ecosport, Brezza, TUV300, Nexon, XUV300, Venue, WR-V
CompactSUV: Duster, Creta, S-cross, Captur, Kicks, Seltos, Compass, BR-V
SUV: XUV500, Scorpio, Harrier, Hector, Tucson, CR-V, Kodiaq, Tiguan
LargeSUV: Endeavor, Alturas, Fortuner, Hexa
Compact4x4: Thar

Why is there such granular segmentation? Because of our lifestyle-not because of affordability. Most middle-class Indian homes have cramped parking spaces inside the gate. Some people park their car outside in front of the gates of their 30x40 plot homes. So, the average width of those gates/lengths of the parking area determines the segment of the vehicle they buy.

This has played a major role in Sub-4 meter SUVs success. For some people who want a little more space/premium-ness, are ready to jump over to Compact SUV space, incase they can accommodate that length.

SUV segment vehicles are too big to park into such tight spaces. Only the upper-middle and rich class of people will have a proper size parking spot and will be ready to pick SUV/LargeSUV segment of vehicles.

Coming to Tata, with the above understanding, did you notice, Tata has nothing to offer in CompactSUV space?

if you just see the number of SUVs in the mass-market segment - it is unbelievable. Any automobile business analyst 5 years back wouldn't have predicted this on their wildest predictions.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by manjunathkl

ar

Why is there such granular segmentation? Because of our lifestyle-not because of affordability. Most middle-class Indian homes have cramped parking spaces inside the gate. Some people park their car outside in front of the gates of their 30x40 plot homes. So, the average width of those gates/lengths of the parking area determines the segment of the vehicle they buy.

This has played a major role in Sub-4 meter SUVs success.

The main reason is legislation. The sub-4m car with less than 1.2L petrol or a 1.5L diesel engine saves up on taxes. The next slab is priced pretty steeply. Most parking lots are more or less standard these days, but yes you do have a point. Its far easier to park a smaller car compared to a large SUV.

[DieselAddikt]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

not sure I understand the big gap here, what exactly are we asking for?

I will tell you. He is indirectly asking for a Safari replacement.

Someone here mentioned that Vitara is not coming. Is that confirmed ? So what are the other cars in the pipeline for Maruti ? Looking at the Jimny that they showcased (the left hand drive car), it is at least a year and a half away from introduction in India. If Vitara is not coming, what else have they planned for India ?

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

Someone here mentioned that Vitara is not coming. Is that confirmed ? So what are the other cars in the pipeline for Maruti ? Looking at the Jimny that they showcased (the left hand drive car), it is at least a year and a half away from introduction in India. If Vitara is not coming, what else have they planned for India ?

Peanuts aka:
Updated Brezza
Updated Ignis
WagonR Nexa version

[chaturgaurav]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

WagonR Nexa version

Looks like Maruti is going to have all their models sell in parallel at both Arena and Nexa eventually, why have 2 outlets then?
Ertiga is already there and now Wagon R (of course with negligible tweaks). Won't it kill the perception of Nexa being a premium brand? What are they even thinking.

[manjunathkl]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

I will tell you. He is indirectly asking for a Safari replacement.

no. I want a brand new ALFA platform SUV bigger than Nexon and smaller than Harrier.

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

Someone here mentioned that Vitara is not coming. Is that confirmed?

If I'm right, Vitara was thoroughly tested for Indian conditions in 2018-19. Still not launched, not even an announcement. S-cross was launched in its place, Vitara was not even showcased in 2020 Auto expo. What does that tell you about Vitara launching in India?

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

So what are the other cars in the pipeline for Maruti? Looking at the Jimny that they showcased (the left hand drive car), it is at least a year and a half away from introduction in India. If Vitara is not coming, what else have they planned for India?

Auto Expo is the place where carmakers are supposed to show upcoming models along with new concepts. Sadly, Maruti didn't show any new launches. Swift hybrid was showcased - not sure if it will really launch. Jimny was showcased only to gauge public interest. In any case, Jimny is not in a high volume segment. And a concept FuturoE electric concept car. Looks like no new cars are lined up for India in the next 2 years.