Maruti launched the second generation Swift Dzire last year and its sales evolution is nothing short of astounding.
Following the relaunch, the Dzire turned into one of the fastest selling cars in the country, and as it is from a higher point in the value chain, profit margins for Maruti are not bad either.
Honda has launched the Amaze in New Delhi and Mumbai at very competitive prices. Prices may not undercut the Dzire's, particularly of the more preferred diesel variants, but the Amaze's fortes are the highly fuel efficient and powerful diesel engine, a bigger boot and spacious rear seat. In these respects, the Amaze is a better car. So there's enough there to justify the marginally higher prices, and because the Amaze is new, it is the crowd puller of the two.
Maruti Suzuki or any company in the world for that matter, cannot respond to competitor attacks by launching a better product in a day, month or a year. To stem the tide, automakers resort to moves like slashing the price, rolling out a new advertisement campaign, offering more equipment for the same price, announcing benefits in the car's financing or launch a contest with an attractive grand prize.
Maruti Suzuki is apparently responding to the Amaze's launch, in a way it knows best, by introducing a special edition model dubbed 'Dzire Regal'.
The Maruti Dzire Regal will sport a serene blue body color, leather upholstery, a new music system, rear parking sensor, body-colored foldable rear view mirrors and a silver colored front grill. The Dzire Regal will be priced at 5.60 lakh rupees (ex-showroom Delhi). These additions are dealer-level accessory fitments. The gestation time for such launches are the lowest.
Maruti has not officially announced prices or released photographs of the Regal. We may learn more about it in the next few days, so do stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com!
