[StarScream]

Maruti Suzuki unveils its luxurious sporty sedan Kizashi



Marks the company's entry in the premium luxury sedan segment

Luxurious exteriors and interiors

High performing 2.4 litre engine for active and sporty performance

Bookings begin at Rs 50,000/- now; Deliveries begin in March 2011

New Delhi, 2nd February 2011: Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the country's largest car manufacturer today unveiled it's much awaited luxurious and sporty sedan, 'Kizashi'. Kizashi is the company's first offering in the upper end of the Indian car market.

Kizashi offers an excellent packaging of feature rich luxury, style and sporty performance. It is manufactured at Suzuki Motor Corporation's Sagara plant in Japan and will be imported into India as a Completely Built-up Unit (CBU). After its launch in Japan in late 2009, the Kizashi was introduced in the US.

Kizashi will be available in India in two variants: Manual Transmission (MT) and Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT).

At the launch, Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India said, "The Kizashi is a major step forward for Maruti Suzuki. With the launch of this luxurious sporty sedan, Maruti Suzuki is able to offer an international car to top-end customers in India. I am delighted to note that most previews by auto experts here have been positive, appreciating the Kizashi's stylish looks, sporty performance and luxurious feel. We are fully geared to delight customers in a segment where we have been absent so far."

Kizashi delivers a sporty performance thanks to its powerful engine. The agility and performance is well complemented with a sporty look and profile of the Kizashi. With the array of top-end features Kizashi compares well with the premium luxury sedans in higher segments.

The imposing front grille, compact and sleek exteriors coupled with exclusive interiors makes Kizashi stand tall among competing brands. The Kizashi aptly reflects the sporty DNA of Suzuki Motor Corporation in the styling and performance.

The Kizashi is powered by the celebrated 2.4 litre DOHC J-Series engine that ensures potent performance (maximum output: 178 PS @ 6,500rpm and a maximum torque: 230Nm @ 4,000rpm) while offering excellent fuel efficiency of 12.53 Kmpl (CVT) and 12.45 Kmpl (6-speed MT).

The Kizashi will be available in 'Snow White Pearl', 'Super Black Pearl' and 'Premium Silver Metallic' colors.

The Kizashi will give customers a choice of Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT), which further promotes fuel economy along with a superior driving experience. The 6-speed Manual Transmission (MT) is tuned for the true driving enthusiast to give a taste of Suzuki Motor Corporation's high technological competence.

Rigourous endurance testing for all terrains:

The performance and handling of the Kizashi shall reflect the benefits of testing and tuning conducted in diverse conditions around the world. Kizashi has been tested in some of the most extreme conditions, like cold-weather trials in Minnesota and hot-weather trials in Death Valley, USA. Kizashi's handling has been honed on challenging country roads in the United Kingdom and on autobahns in Nürburgring, Germany.

Kizashi has been developed with special emphasis on combination of sportiness and elegance in its design, smoothness and quietness befitting a vehicle in this class and superior engine performance and fuel efficiency.

Kizashi is, indeed, a true sign of a great thing to come !

Kizashi can be booked with an initial deposit of Rs 50,000/- at any Maruti Suzuki Dealers immediately. Deliveries for Kizashi will begin in March 2011.

Introductory Prices

Model

City

Ex Showroom (Rs)

Kizashi 6-speed Manual transmission (MT)

New Delhi

16.5 Lakh

Kizashi Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT)

New Delhi

17.5 Lakh

[Fornax]

Nice review of the various features onboard the Kizashi.

YouTube - Suzuki Kizashi road test video and review - test drive of the Maruti Suzuki kizashi for India

[akj53]

The above prices look good and will undercut Accord and may also hurt the upper models of Laura. Some Civic, Cruze and Altis prospective buyers may also increase their budget to buy this as Kizashi will have the advantage of Brand assurance of Maruti. I don't think that this will attract Superb or Camry prospects.

Next 3months sales figures will be interesting to watch.

[harishnair]

Originally Posted by akj53

The above prices look good and will undercut Accord and may also hurt the upper models of Laura. Some Civic, Cruze and Altis prospective buyers may also increase their budget to buy this as Kizashi will have the advantage of Brand assurance of Maruti. I don't think that this will attract Superb or Camry prospects.

Next 3months sales figures will be interesting to watch.

Don't think that is going to happen because these are Ex-Showroom prices, so on-road its going to be quite expensive. IMHO, only car which could be hit by the Kizashi launch is the Hyundai Sonata.

[1-Testosterone]

Hyundai Sonata probably will be coming with R Series Diesel Engine (same that goes into Santa Fe) and will be loaded with features. There's no better diesel engine in this price bracket. Upcoming Sonata will be a grand hit IMHO. It will repeat what i10 and i20 did in their respective categories.

[skjlives]

Originally Posted by harishnair

Don't think that is going to happen because these are Ex-Showroom prices, so on-road its going to be quite expensive. IMHO, only car which could be hit by the Kizashi launch is the Hyundai Sonata.

I'd be very surprised if the Kizashi sells more than a few hundred units in India bar the initial flurry of bookings that may come in just because of the novelty value. MSIL has to either live with Kizashi being another Grand Vitara or do something about the pricing strategy (which is frankly baffling given that Kizashi is not exactly rocking the charts in any of its foreign markets Including US and China, even with very competitive prices there, which I solely attribute to the brand weakness not product per se).

[Sugeeta]

Initial feelers had indicated a price tag of approx. 12 lacs or so. But 16.5 is a bit on the higher side. I was eagerly awaiting the launch of this one; but it definitely does not fit my pocket. On second thoughts, maybe I should check it out to see what is being offered in steel and rubber before I cross it out of my list. That kind of sums up my view.

[naveen.raju]

Would have been better if it was place less than 15L.

[S350L-E240]

Yes boss, in our state this will come under double RTO tax so the on road price will go quite high which in turn will hardly garner any sales. I still do not understand for a company like Maruti with so many resources at hand why could they not have thought of CKD or SKD route? Would reduce the Ex-showroom price and also the RTO which in turn would perhaps help get it on road close to about 16.5 for the manual.

At the price this goes bang into the Superb / Accord range and I think Maruti will have a hard time convince people to go for their car over the others at that price.

Regards,

Originally Posted by h@r$h@l

Good car, high pricing. But i guess these days, everything sells. I think Maruti should do OK with these prices. One thing i personally liked about Kizashi is no variants to chose from and that makes life simpler for all. its a straight forward thing, MT or AT.

is the tax / duty higher on CBU cars?

Awaiting a detailed GTO report on it.

[Rach]

I too feel it will be difficult for Maruti to sell this at 18-20lacs OTR. Cars at this price are mostly sold in bigger towns and cities. Maruti doesn't have a brand pull like Honda to sell in these areas. Our towns and villages, where Maruti has good network and Honda et all doesn't have any, are now slowly maturing to 10-15 lacs budget. If they have priced it around Civic territory, it would have sold both in cities (because they will get one size bigger for brand compromise) and towns (because they don't have option in service). They lost opportunity by not going CKD and diesel route. I see a repeating Vitara here.

Disclaimer: All our knowledge and predictions can be wrong, as MSIL and Indian people has repeatedly proved. Case in point, latest Alto sales (outdated platform), Ritz and Swift (better cars are available at competition).

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by akj53

The above prices look good and will undercut Accord and may also hurt the upper models of Laura.

The prices are very competitive, and VFM compared to the features offerred! But, the lack of a diesel engine and brand value will make life very difficult for the Kizashi. How i wish Maruti had gone the CKD route instead!

Originally Posted by 1-Testosterone

Upcoming Sonata will be a grand hit IMHO. It will repeat what i10 and i20 did in their respective categories.

+1.

Being a CKD, i am sure it will sport a competitive price tag as well, along with a powerful diesel engine. Its funny how Hyundai is now banking on technology and features, while Honda/ Toyota and depending on their brand names!

Originally Posted by Sugeeta

Initial feelers had indicated a price tag of approx. 12 lacs or so. But 16.5 is a bit on the higher side.

12 lakh was never realistic, considering the segment it competes in internationally, and the level of equipment it has! At 16.5L even, it offers some features that are not present in any other petrol competition. Its got a 2.4L 178ps engine under the hood, if not anything else!

[radiokidb]

Can everyone who is going on and on that it should have been priced at 12L, 15L, etc please stop?

I am not saying the price is fantastic. But as skjlives put it, is it expensive? yes, but it is not exorbitant. The kizashi is a competitor to the accord, NOT the civic/altis/jetta/laura/cruze which everyone is comparing it against. Since it is being imported as a CBU, the price was never going to be fantastic (and especially with the current exchange rate of the yen). Just look at the Camry and CRV prices for example. Going the CKD route may have been an option, but it entails significant investment. Maruti probably not confident of the sales numbers to make such an investment and hence went the CBU route. They should have gone the CKD route as this would have enabled them to price the car more aggressively, and would in turn have got more sales. But then again, im sure the company is run by people a lot smarter than me.

The Kisazhi MT is priced 2.35 lakhs less ex-showroom than an accord. Factor in taxes and in Bangalore its about 2.8 lakhs on road. So why would anyone buy it? Simply because this side of a BMW, the Kizashi is one of the best driver's cars. The only other competitor is the Laura TSI, which apart from being a size smaller (not by much mind you, considering the kizashi isnt exactly cave like), does not have half the features the Kisazhi does. And being backed up by Maruti's service network is a lot more assuring than buying a Skoda for some people.

Remember, you are getting a 2.4 litre 178 ps engine (sub 8 sec 0-100 time), 17 inch alloys, all disc brakes, six speed gearbox, six airbags, projector headlights, dual zone climate control, 10 way powered seats, push button start, etc etc. All this for a price which undercuts the Accord and Superb by a few lakhs, and which the aforementioned civic/altis/jetta/laura/cruze do not come close to. The kizashi does manage to carve out a small niche for itself. If you are looking for a chauffer driven car, then of course the Accord and Superb are better choices. But if you are looking for a self driven car, the Kizashi actually makes sense. There are going to be people who see value in it. Sure brand value matters, and there are going to be people who aren't going to come near this car. And yes as everyone has pointed out, it is NOT going to sell well. But all that is more to do with the brand than the car.

[aniketi]

Why Why Why ???

Why cant Maruti make Kizashi here locally? With 104 % import duty it is 16.5 - 17.5 Lacs. If they can make it locally it can be made around 10-11 Lacs for sure. They can sell it around 12-13 Lacs & make good profits for sure. Also they can easily have a winner to kill products like Laura, Civic, Altis etc with that price. Reall unable to understand there strategy.

[skjlives]

Originally Posted by radiokidb

Can everyone who is going on and on that it should have been priced at 12L, 15L, etc please stop?

I am not saying the price is fantastic. But as skjlives put it, is it expensive? yes, but it is not exorbitant. The kizashi is a competitor to the accord, NOT the civic/altis/jetta/laura/cruze which everyone is comparing it against. Since it is being imported as a CBU, the price was never going to be fantastic (and especially with the current exchange rate of the yen). Just look at the Camry and CRV prices for example. Going the CKD route may have been an option, but it entails significant investment. Maruti probably not confident of the sales numbers to make such an investment and hence went the CBU route. They should have gone the CKD route as this would have enabled them to price the car more aggressively, and would in turn have got more sales. But then again, im sure the company is run by people a lot smarter than me.

The Kisazhi MT is priced 2.35 lakhs less ex-showroom than an accord. Factor in taxes and in Bangalore its about 2.8 lakhs on road. So why would anyone buy it? Simply because this side of a BMW, the Kizashi is one of the best driver's cars. The only other competitor is the Laura TSI, which apart from being a size smaller (not by much mind you, considering the kizashi isnt exactly cave like), does not have half the features the Kisazhi does. And being backed up by Maruti's service network is a lot more assuring than buying a Skoda for some people.

Remember, you are getting a 2.4 litre 178 ps engine (sub 8 sec 0-100 time), 17 inch alloys, all disc brakes, six speed gearbox, six airbags, projector headlights, dual zone climate control, 10 way powered seats, push button start, etc etc. All this for a price which undercuts the Accord and Superb by a few lakhs, and which the aforementioned civic/altis/jetta/laura/cruze do not come close to. The kizashi does manage to carve out a small niche for itself. If you are looking for a chauffer driven car, then of course the Accord and Superb are better choices. But if you are looking for a self driven car, the Kizashi actually makes sense. There are going to be people who see value in it. Sure brand value matters, and there are going to be people who aren't going to come near this car. And yes as everyone has pointed out, it is NOT going to sell well. But all that is more to do with the brand than the car.

This is by far the most balanced analysis/review of Kizashi launch. But here's my final two cents - Maruti was faced with a chicken & egg situation. Launch CBU, get traction, build infra and start CKDing the car. They could have either played it safe (from business sense and profitability perspective) and priced the car right (which they clearly have, given the macro factors such as forex, input prices and Indian duty structure) or they could have taken the risk of pricing it aggressively, bleeding a little bit on their bottomline to create the new segment (i.e. a luxury car from a household brand) and then make money when the market was created and it made sense to start assembling it locally.
They chose the safer way, and that is a management call. And a company selling a million cars a year has got to be smart enough to know what they are doing.
Too bad if some of the hopes of prospective buyers who were swinging between high end C and entry D were dashed!

[fine69]

Is it just me or does it look like a cross between Grand Vitara (front) and SX4 (rest of the car) to anyone else also?
Also, the front grille just doesn't give that royal kind of feeling for such a high-priced sedan.