Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. having a strong hold on the small car market in the country is attempting to get rid of the budget car manufacturer tag by selling more expensive models via a separate network as buyers and first time purchasers are planning to buy larger cars.
As a part of the efforts to increase its market share in the premium car market segment, Maruti Suzuki in a meeting announced to sell its cars via two individual marketing networks and recast its top management. This was revealed by three anonymous people familiar with the development. Furthermore, a spokesperson of the manufacturer declined to comment regarding this development.
This decision to create a separate sales network might have been prompted by the consumers choosing other brands over Maruti when customers buy bigger cars. Notably, the firm has been involved in the making of small cars since the introduction of Maruti 800 in the year 1983.
Maruti Suzuki requires enhancement in its market share in the premium car market segment in order to keep hold of its dominance in the market wherein the sales of SUVs and sedans have grown a step with rising aspirations and prosperity.
As per the new plan, while Maruti DZire compact sedan and affordable models will be sold via the existing Maruti Suzuki network, the premium cars including S-Cross SUV, Ciaz and the unannounced compact SUV will be sold via a new network called Nexa. The Nexa network will be launched acrossIndia’s top 10 cities with the launch of the S-Cross in the month of June. The person who was responsible for the dealer development of Maruti, Partho Banerjee has been involved in the development of the Nexa network. The firm has also sent an internal communication to this effect to Maruti employees.
In April this year, Maruti admitted that new buyers are skipping to buy the Alto segment in choice of purchasing bigger cars such as Swift and WagonR. Maruti is all set to start selling light commercial vehicles in the coming months and it has created a separate team for the same purpose.
