Team-BHP - Maruti S-Cross : Official Review

I believe the bouquets from Hyundai, Renault, Nissan, Mahindra and Ford would have reached the Maruti HQ by now. If one wants to learn how to destroy a perfectly good product with atrocious and third class pricing one should go to the MSIL school of horrible pricing.

First it was the baleno, then the grand vitara, then the kizashi and now as if history didn't teach them anything they launch the S cross with disgusting alloys at prices where people can have a hearty laugh.

Seriously, why even launch the product when you already know its going to flop?

Take for example the Kizashi, excellent engine, great features, super gearbox and an incredibly safe car destroyed by a pricing blunder.

Last time their excuse was the kizashi was a CBU. But what is it this time? You have good levels of localisation on the ddis 200 and 67% in the DDIS 320.

Are we missing something here? I feel that Maruti has launched it in India only due to pressure from Suzuki. It seems as they are not interested at all in going above the 10L segment.

They should have learnt from the Ciaz's superb pricing that if priced well a product can get good numbers. If they were so uncertain on the 1.6 S cross they should have waited and launched it later as a limited edition at a premium of about 1.5 lakhs once they studied the reception of the ddis 200. Sure it would have caused them a loss but it wouldn't have been anywhere near as much loss that they would be facing now.

I pity the dealers who started the all new showrooms keeping trust in Maruti and its pricing strategy. They would suffer huge losses, just imagine setting up beautiful and modern showroom with the best sales rep possible and then get the parent company to do a pricing disaster causing the dealer to lose margins and sell at a discount.

The dealers should do something like what nissan dealers did and stop taking cars altogether that ought to teach Maruti a lesson. MSIL should understand that their decisions impact a huge chunk of the market.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carwatcher (Post 3772405)

I am little surprised and confused after reading the wave of reaction at the pricing of the S-Cross. But if I read it right S-Cross has been priced 50K lower variant to variant wrt Creta and rightly so. If that's true then what are we complaining about.

The ddis 200 is priced lower than the creta variant to variant. But the ddis 320 is priced at a premium over the creta variant to variant which is why everyone is so cross with the S cross:Frustrati

No idea of OTR prices here
The RM is keeping mum.
He said he would call me after sometime as he is in a meeting - Dealer might be a bit worried about the pricing.

Heard that the DDIS 200 alpha would be 12.8 OTR Cochin
Roughly 14.16,15.3 and 16.5 L for the delta, zeta and alpha 1.6 DDIS 320

Got calls from maruti dealership. He is ready to offer 30k discount in addition to reduction in handling charges, give free mats and arrange registration. That is a sweet deal for ZDI+, coming to 12.1L OTR here:Shockked:

S cross's strongest opponent would be the Ciaz lol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by arun_josie (Post 3772440)

DDiS 200 Zeta @ Rs. 9,99,000, Is this same as the delhi Ex-Showroom price?

@ arun_joise : Yes, its true. Even I was also expecting Zeta around 10.3 L (Ex-Showroom) in Bangalore. Also, its interesting to see the quote provided as no Handling Charges or any other extra has been added. Seems, Nexa Dealers have already understood the consequence of MSIL blunder and trying to safeguard their investment. Zeta-200 Bangalore pricing is keeping mind engaged for more calculations on its worth. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandygordon (Post 3772449)

Heard that the DDIS 200 alpha would be 12.7OTR Cochin
Roughly 14,15 and 16 L for the delta, sigma and alpha 1.6 DDIS 320

Got calls from maruti dealership. He is ready to offer 30k discount in addition to reduction in handling charges, give free mats and arrange registration. That is a sweet deal for ZDI+, coming to 12.1L OTR here:Shockked:

The discount offered on the ciaz is pretty low. If you push harder i believe you can easily get around 40-50k off the ciaz. The guys at the showroom have wierd offers for the sales staff.

:OT
I came to know from my sources that the Team leader recieves a gold coin for every Ciaz sold in addition to 2-3 cars sold by his/her team in a particular day. So if you recieve a call all of a sudden from the dealer ready to give you the discount that you want it means that they are short of that 1 ciaz booking to get that gold coin. The gold coin is given to them 14 days after delivery so the chances of them cheating you with wrong discounts is next to nil.

Quote:

Originally Posted by audioholic (Post 3772374)

Heck, the XUV500 W8 comes at 17.72L and with some discounts running. So much VFM, and my experience with Mahindra after sales is very heartening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by k_ajay (Post 3772397)

The XUV 5OO W8 is 17.83L OTR. Just saying. More than 'similarly matched'.

Yes, XUV500 looks super VFM now. Its an SUV, 7 Seater, more space, road presence etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by volkman10 (Post 3772445)

Yes , a bit of relief for prospective DDiS200 Zeta customers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeroamit (Post 3772451)

Zeta-200 Bangalore pricing is keeping mind engaged for more calculations on its worth. :)

Yes, good for people having DDiS Zeta in mind.:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandygordon (Post 3772449)

That is a sweet deal for ZDI+, coming to 12.1L OTR here:Shockked:Scross's strongest opponent would be the Ciazlol:

Also, a good chance for the the dealers who didn't get NEXA to push Ciaz showing the S-Cross price.

In my opinion, we'd very soon be seeing another article on Indian CARFLATION (Car Prices Inflation) similar to the one we saw about German Luxury Cars. The prices have now-a-days an added component, the "Aspirational" value in terms of cost added to counter 2 things:

1> Price the product overlapping or close enough to the both the lower as well as upper segments so they don't have to bring in another car which cannibalizes their own product. C2 Segment Sedans have been a clear example of this which have expanded themselves to completely push away the segment above.

2> And to create enough room/capacity for newer products to come in which are already being sold elsewhere & are not here due to pricing sensitivity constraints. This way they not only increase their product consumption but also lay the groundwork for expansion from export perspective. The Germans expanded their Export Product Line-Up here & thats another example pointing to this. Although somewhat positive, this phenomenon is a self-correcting one & over time discounts should be on their way. But this move in-the-end makes the early buyers simply feel cheated & make them lose their trust & loyalty to the Car Manufacturer.

Pushing one's budget (upto 75K-1L on an avg) at the time of buying a car is somewhat understandable when the car/features seem worthy. But not just because some other Manufacturer over-priced their product

I definitely believe Jazz, Creta, Duster/Terrano, S-Cross are all overpriced to some/large extent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by humyum (Post 3772466)

S Scross - Lowest Version of the 320 - 15 lakhs plus, Highest Version 17 lakhs plus.

Chalo, this is going the Kizashi and Vitara route for sure. I mean what is Maruti thinking. In a country like India, with a car which which has no boot, looks like a hatchback because there is no concept of cross over here, has cars like Creta as its competition and with this pricing, I can only say RIP S cross.

Just imagine if the Kizashi was still being sold at a discount of 3-4 lakhs. It would have costed the same as/ lower than the S cross DDIS 320 alpha would have been great to see the competition between the two. Suddenly even the Kizashi has started making sense looking at the prices of the DDIS 320 alpha.

@MSIL do make public the stuff that you were smoking while finalising the pricing. Would make for a great scientific research lol::uncontrol

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeroamit (Post 3772365)

Bangalore On-Road prices for S-Cross as per my RM.

That is little soothing, hope 1.3 is priced similar in Chennai as well (>10L invite larger Road Tax as in Bangalore). Nexa site is yet to give price for Chennai (not sure where is the nexa showroom in Chennai, I will be back to India next week and have to search of it!)

If this price holds on, will have to weigh it against Ciaz ZDI and see who has good feature list and drive-ability. I want a car which can load a lot folding the rear seat (I almost moved my house in my Santro with multiple trips, going for Sedan will cost practicality for me :D).

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaibir (Post 3772299)

Bangalore Ex Showroom price from my Nexa RM. Note the just below Rs10l price for the DDIS 200 Zeta to avoid the high road tax slab.

I smell something fishy. All the variants are having a uplift of 40K on Delhi ex showroom price except for Zeta. Is it a mistake on purpose to pull aspirant buyers into showroom? If it is genuine, can state government pull up MSIL misrepresenting the ex factory price for 2 different state as it hits their revenue also :Frustrati

Quote:

Originally Posted by S2!!! (Post 3772282)

I'm not advocating the high launch price of the S-Cross 1.6 litre but I'd like to remind all, that this car rivals the Skoda Yeti and the Nissan Qashqai in international markets, where it is priced substantially lower and proves to be a worthy alternative to these. Here in India, unfortunately, this car has to compete with the likes of the Duster and EcoSport which are almost a segment or two below the S-Cross. Clearly the 1.6L was dead (in India) the minute its prices were announced, owing to the very capable competitors in its price range.

True, but considering our market dynamics its not really a direct match to international markets. For example, in UK the top of the line 4x4 Duster price is almost on par with the entry-level Ecosport, which is not quite the case in India.

For the S-Cross, it would have been a decent price if the 1.6 diesel top variant got similar equipment levels as the top-end Creta.