[romeomidhun]

Why no official test drive report by Team-BHP yet?

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by mik5711

hi guys, i had the oppurtunity to drive the kizashi for about 100 km last friday night.do not ask how i got hold of it,but i got it and drove.i drove the CVT version. having driven the car over the distance i felt that i have not driven a car like that (in that price point ) with such satisfaction in a while.the last car which made me feel like this was the Ford Mondeo.the car keeps accelerating well past 180 kph above which was not able to drive without a clear stretch of road available.moreover wife and daughter where in the car.power came on very strongly after 3700rpm and at no point was the engine feeling strained.it stopped quickly also .100 to 0 is supposed to be 2.7 seconds.the car looks wide and low and has fantastic road prescence.it out shines the civic ,altis and the accord in the driving and car control department by a mile.i think i must be one of the few guys outside of the automags and testdrivers to have driven the car this far and also enjoy it.the drive was done in the famous ECR of chennai after 8.30 pm.i actually had a blast with this machine .already enquiring with the dealer about a early delivery date.i would recommend it to anybody who needs a rush or middle age crisis.this should be a cure for it.

A nice and crisp review of the car, makes it sounds tempting despite the price and low snob value for a Suzuki.

[skjlives]

Originally Posted by m_upreti

A nice and crisp review of the car, makes it sounds tempting despite the price and low snob value for a Suzuki.

Its official - MSIL is actually not expecting to sell many Kizashis in India since they have not even dedicated a TD car for a market like Bangalore (They won't be able to recover the cost of a TD car every location with the minuscule money they will make on the few units sold).

The official word is "let the customer see it, if he likes it he will buy it on the basis of what he has read and heard". That is very amusing, considering that people these days do not buy hatchbacks without test driving let alone risk 20L for a product they haven't experienced themselves. If somebody is loaded enough to throw away 20L like that, he will not buy a Kizashi, but a mid-segment German sports sedan (throwing another 20L).

The dealer is a friend and he told me that he'll arrange for a small "unofficial" drive, and may be I'll take up his offer, but unlikely I'll buy the car given the "Don't give a s***" attitude of the company with respect to this CBU offering.

Sigh... Another 6 month wait, now for the i45.

[nik_kapur]

Originally Posted by skjlives

Its official - MSIL is actually not expecting to sell many Kizashis in India since they have not even dedicated a TD car for a market like Bangalore (They won't be able to recover the cost of a TD car every location with the minuscule money they will make on the few units sold).

The official word is "let the customer see it, if he likes it he will buy it on the basis of what he has read and heard". That is very amusing, considering that people these days do not buy hatchbacks without test driving let alone risk 20L for a product they haven't experienced themselves. If somebody is loaded enough to throw away 20L like that, he will not buy a Kizashi, but a mid-segment German sports sedan (throwing another 20L).

The dealer is a friend and he told me that he'll arrange for a small "unofficial" drive, and may be I'll take up his offer, but unlikely I'll buy the car given the "Don't give a s***" attitude of the company with respect to this CBU offering.



Sigh... Another 6 month wait, now for the i45.

MSIL really surprises me with there business acumen ! If they never wanted to sell this car, why did they launch it? This takes me back around 13 or 14 years back when me an my dad visited the BPL showroom to buy a car stereo (there werent many options back in the day other than the grey market ones or a couple of kenwood/phillips models) and we wanted to sound test the stereo and we were told that it was a piece that they had was for sale and it sounded great BUT we couldnt hear it till we bought it ! Basically you take the salesmans word for it or take a walk.

[1-Testosterone]

Originally Posted by nik_kapur

MSIL really surprises me with there business acumen ! If they never wanted to sell this car, why did they launch it? This takes me back around 13 or 14 years back when me an my dad visited the BPL showroom to buy a car stereo (there werent many options back in the day other than the grey market ones or a couple of kenwood/phillips models) and we wanted to sound test the stereo and we were told that it was a piece that they had was for sale and it sounded great BUT we couldnt hear it till we bought it ! Basically you take the salesmans word for it or take a walk.

Why VW launched Phaeton and Toyota Land Cruiser when they knew there would be very takers?

[nik_kapur]

Originally Posted by 1-Testosterone

Why VW launched Phaeton and Toyota Land Cruiser when they knew there would be very takers?

Well my answer to that would be that the Land Cruiser and Phaeton are lifestyle cars and only have a few takers in India as they priced over half a million rupees and Kizashi is not ! The Civic/Corolla/Cruze/Laura segment is pretty lucrative in India and if a genuine attempt is made, the manufacturer can make a decent profit. Did Toyota bring in a CBU Corolla in India and try and sell it at 18L ! No.. and thats the answer.

Even if the Landcruiser and Phaeton style cars are manufactured in India, the poor manufacturer will never be able to make a profit on the investment. Think about it, the numbers arent there for cars above a certain price point and they will anyways find a buyer at 90 L like the Landcruiser.

[1-Testosterone]

Originally Posted by nik_kapur

Think about it, the numbers arent there for cars above a certain price point and they will anyways find a buyer at 90 L like the Landcruiser.

Well, MSIL thinks rightly so with their Kizashi and they might not be taking it that seriously (Neither were they serious with their GV).
Otherwise they would have plonked Multijet Diesel in their GV and laughed their way to bank ever since they introduced it knowing the fact that Indians loves diesels for quite a few reasons.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by nik_kapur

Did Toyota bring in a CBU Corolla in India and try and sell it at 18L ! No.. and thats the answer.

While I do agree with you that the way MSIL are marketing the Kizashi seems vague/unclear, the Corolla is not a valid comparo for the Kizashi.

A valid comparison would be the Camry - which sold a measly 3 Units in Jan2011. The Accord sold 174 units, so I am sure you know why Toyota lags here.

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

While I do agree with you that the way MSIL are marketing the Kizashi seems vague/unclear, the Corolla is not a valid comparo for the Kizashi.

A valid comparison would be the Camry - which sold a measly 3 Units in Jan2011. The Accord sold 174 units, so I am sure you know why Toyota lags here.

In USA, Kizashi compares with corolla, jetta, civic and the likes at similar price point. Why compare with accord and camry in India?

[1-Testosterone]

Originally Posted by chevelle

In USA, Kizashi compares with corolla, jetta, civic and the likes at similar price point. Why compare with accord and camry in India?

Because it a CBU. Had it been CKD, it would have knocked Corolla, Civic and Jetta and Co.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by chevelle

In USA, Kizashi compares with corolla, jetta, civic and the likes at similar price point. Why compare with accord and camry in India?

For 2 reasons :
1) Engine and power-wise, it is similar/closer to the Accord/Camry than it is to the Corolla/Civic.
2) And because in this context we are discussing CBU vs local manufacture, where Corolla is the latter, while Camry IIRC is a CBU (or some such) attracting higher duties and thus priced higher.

BTW, just because something is done in the US, do the rest of the world necessarily need to follow it ?

[nik_kapur]

Oops, i meant 5 Million Rupees.

Originally Posted by nik_kapur

Well my answer to that would be that the Land Cruiser and Phaeton are lifestyle cars and only have a few takers in India as they priced over half a million rupees and Kizashi is not ! The Civic/Corolla/Cruze/Laura segment is pretty lucrative in India and if a genuine attempt is made, the manufacturer can make a decent profit. Did Toyota bring in a CBU Corolla in India and try and sell it at 18L ! No.. and thats the answer.

Even if the Landcruiser and Phaeton style cars are manufactured in India, the poor manufacturer will never be able to make a profit on the investment. Think about it, the numbers arent there for cars above a certain price point and they will anyways find a buyer at 90 L like the Landcruiser.

[khoj]

Originally Posted by nik_kapur

Well my answer to that would be that the Land Cruiser and Phaeton are lifestyle cars and only have a few takers in India as they priced over half a million rupees and Kizashi is not ! The Civic/Corolla/Cruze/Laura segment is pretty lucrative in India and if a genuine attempt is made, the manufacturer can make a decent profit. Did Toyota bring in a CBU Corolla in India and try and sell it at 18L ! No.. and thats the answer.

All the three are well over a million. The Kizashi being the cheapest of the three at 1.55 million, ex showroom Dilli. The other two being several million more.

Taking the example of Toyota from the quoted post . They did bring in the Camry via the CBU route and they do make money on the product. Why does one feel then that Suzuki will not be able to do so with the Kizashi when their reach and acceptability is far greater than any other car manufacturer in the country.

Do remember that a majority of Suzuki's sales comes from towns that are not even B class cities forget the As and the Metros. There are people in these unheard of places who could easily afford to buy a 7 or an S class but do not buy even the Honda or the Toyota due to the disconnect these labels bring into their given environments. With the Suzuki badge the story is different as it is perceived as a VFM brand and not a luxurious one. These are the customers who are excited about the Kizashi as it gives them a chance to experience a better built higher quality car while not putting the spotlight on them per se since the decade plus old Omnis, the 800s, the wagon Rs, the Altos, Dzires and the odd Baleno all roaming the lanes of the small town have something in common,the Suzuki badge.

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

For 2 reasons :
1) Engine and power-wise, it is similar/closer to the Accord/Camry than it is to the Corolla/Civic.
2) And because in this context we are discussing CBU vs local manufacture, where Corolla is the latter, while Camry IIRC is a CBU (or some such) attracting higher duties and thus priced higher.

BTW, just because something is done in the US, do the rest of the world necessarily need to follow it ?

Even if it is cbu, it is priced in civic, jetta category isn't it? and engine is not a good yardstick to measure category.

i think camry and accord goes for 20 lakhs plus while kizashi is under 18 lakhs. so why would it be in same category?

even in europe, kizashi is sold in same category as corolla, civic and same is true for japan, china(!). so its not something which is done in USA only. I just said USA as it came to my mind first. Why should we have a different yardstick when size, price are similar to other category and whole world thinks the same while we in India think it is above its similar category? Just because its a CBU doesn't make it jump a whole segment.

Who has stopped suzuki from manufacturing it locally? They should and price it at civic, corolla levels that is a couple of lakhs less compared to current price

[supremeBaleno]

We will never get anywhere if we start discussing the yardstick for segmentation. So, let us leave it at that. Apart from engine/power, if you take space, the K tends more towards the Accord than to the Civic. As far as price tending goes, the K-AT is 3.7lakhs more than Civic V-AT, while it is only 1.8lakhs lesser than Accord2.4-AT. To me, it seems more like Accord category as prices go.

Regarding pricing, I am not sure what your point is - in the 1st line of your post above, you say that price-wise it is in Civic/Jetta category. And in the last line you say that they should price it at Civic levels.