Why Alto VX was discontinued?

sbasak · 21st November 2005, 20:59

Chaps

Do you have any idea why exactly Maruti discontinued Alto VX? It was an excellent car, performance was at par with more expensive cars, had powerful engine and was the only cheap car in India to feature a rev counter!

Some people say that it was eating sales of Zen & WagonR - but what's the problem? They were all manufactured by Maruti itself!

I know many people who still prefer to buy it - even if available as used.

Any thought?

fieroid · 21st November 2005, 21:29

yeah mainly coz it ate into the sales of the zen and wagon-r....it was a sweet car for sure!

jkdas · 21st November 2005, 21:31

I guess it was the engine. It had wagon R's engine right? and hence a competition for zen.
its like a zen with wagon r engine.

and the only neg. side of alto was space. By the way what was the price of it?

sbasak · 21st November 2005, 21:34

AFAIK its price was appx 50K higher than LX.

v12 · 21st November 2005, 21:36

The LX was selling in much higher numbers than the VX. Also as fieroid mentioned it was also eating into the Zen sales. So MUL had to discontinue it and keep only the LX. Guess thats gonna be the rreplacement for the ageing 800.

DCEite · 21st November 2005, 21:40

The reason it was discontinued was because Maruti wants to eventually phase out M800, and brand the Alto 0.8 as the new "people's car".. or the car which it will advertise in future as for those families migrating from two wheelers to four wheelers. Now given this scenario, the larger junta did not see any big difference between the Alto 0.8 and Alto 1.1(except people with some knowledge like us), because both are identical except for the Engine... Now there are very few people who would like to spend a lac more for just a "different" engine(note that i am not talking about people like us or auto enthusiasts).. the other thing was that within that 3.6~3.8 range, Maruti had already two cars namely the Zen and the WagonR, so that segment for Maruti was already overflowing.. now slowely by moving Alto to the 800s space, surely it is a win win situation for Maruti..

The Wolf · 21st November 2005, 23:38

Infact vxi, zen and wagor r where 3 cars with more or less same offerings at different shapes and prices...Eventually what would have happened is there were more choices but less profits as economy minded people/ first buyers/power conscious people would always settle with the vxi which was priced the least but most powerful of the lot. The whole business strategy upside down with a car which was economical and powerful and economical. The only way MUL could have reversed it was by phasing out either zen or wagon-r,,,rather they just phased out a variant of Alto.

fieroid · 22nd November 2005, 00:31

it was the same story wid the 5-speed m800 as well....
its a really peppy car wid teh alto's powertrain and engine...
offers neat mileage and also is pure fun to ride.....again, the 5-speed 800 was eating into the sales of the alto and MUL stopped it too!
Anyways the alto VX and M800 5-speed, still holds good resale value in the 2nd hand car market..

vivekiny2k · 22nd November 2005, 09:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbasak

AFAIK its price was appx 50K higher than LX.

hmm 50K,

how much would it cost to fit a wagon R engine after buying a LX?

Technocrat · 22nd November 2005, 10:27

No difference was close to 1 lakh. My dad has a VXi & i have an LXi

Yes even our dealer told us the zen & wagon R market share eaten by the VXi thing. But boy that car is an absolute adrenaling for a small car :-)

21st November 2005, 20:59	#1
sbasak BHPian Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: CCU-LTN Posts: 608 Thanked: 14 Times	Why Alto VX was discontinued? Chaps Do you have any idea why exactly Maruti discontinued Alto VX? It was an excellent car, performance was at par with more expensive cars, had powerful engine and was the only cheap car in India to feature a rev counter! Some people say that it was eating sales of Zen & WagonR - but what's the problem? They were all manufactured by Maruti itself! I know many people who still prefer to buy it - even if available as used. Any thought?
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 21:29	#2
fieroid BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: bangalore Posts: 706 Thanked: 304 Times	yeah mainly coz it ate into the sales of the zen and wagon-r....it was a sweet car for sure!
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 21:31	#3
jkdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Thiruvananthapu Posts: 9,687 Thanked: 1,492 Times View My Garage	I guess it was the engine. It had wagon R's engine right? and hence a competition for zen. its like a zen with wagon r engine. and the only neg. side of alto was space. By the way what was the price of it? Last edited by jkdas : 21st November 2005 at 21:34.
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 21:34	#4
sbasak BHPian Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: CCU-LTN Posts: 608 Thanked: 14 Times	AFAIK its price was appx 50K higher than LX.
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 21:36	#5
v12 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 6,739 Thanked: 7,213 Times View My Garage	The LX was selling in much higher numbers than the VX. Also as fieroid mentioned it was also eating into the Zen sales. So MUL had to discontinue it and keep only the LX. Guess thats gonna be the rreplacement for the ageing 800.
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 21:40	#6
DCEite Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NCR Posts: 3,414 Thanked: 2,522 Times	The reason it was discontinued was because Maruti wants to eventually phase out M800, and brand the Alto 0.8 as the new "people's car".. or the car which it will advertise in future as for those families migrating from two wheelers to four wheelers. Now given this scenario, the larger junta did not see any big difference between the Alto 0.8 and Alto 1.1(except people with some knowledge like us), because both are identical except for the Engine... Now there are very few people who would like to spend a lac more for just a "different" engine(note that i am not talking about people like us or auto enthusiasts).. the other thing was that within that 3.6~3.8 range, Maruti had already two cars namely the Zen and the WagonR, so that segment for Maruti was already overflowing.. now slowely by moving Alto to the 800s space, surely it is a win win situation for Maruti..
	() Thanks

21st November 2005, 23:38	#7
The Wolf Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,118 Thanked: 71 Times	Infact vxi, zen and wagor r where 3 cars with more or less same offerings at different shapes and prices...Eventually what would have happened is there were more choices but less profits as economy minded people/ first buyers/power conscious people would always settle with the vxi which was priced the least but most powerful of the lot. The whole business strategy upside down with a car which was economical and powerful and economical. The only way MUL could have reversed it was by phasing out either zen or wagon-r,,,rather they just phased out a variant of Alto.
	() Thanks

22nd November 2005, 00:31	#8
fieroid BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: bangalore Posts: 706 Thanked: 304 Times	it was the same story wid the 5-speed m800 as well.... its a really peppy car wid teh alto's powertrain and engine... offers neat mileage and also is pure fun to ride.....again, the 5-speed 800 was eating into the sales of the alto and MUL stopped it too! Anyways the alto VX and M800 5-speed, still holds good resale value in the 2nd hand car market..
	() Thanks

22nd November 2005, 10:27	#10
Technocrat Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: GTA Posts: 14,813 Thanked: 2,700 Times	No difference was close to 1 lakh. My dad has a VXi & i have an LXi Yes even our dealer told us the zen & wagon R market share eaten by the VXi thing. But boy that car is an absolute adrenaling for a small car :-)
	() Thanks