Back in February 2011, Maruti Suzuki ambitiously tried to change its ‘Small Car Maker’ image by bringing in the Suzuki Kizashi in the Indian market.
Unfortunately, they weren’t really sure whether such type of product will succeed in the market. So they decided to play it safe by bringing it in CBU form which means the whole car is made in Japan and loaded on a ship which then comes to India and the car is delivered to the customer.
However, the distinct disadvantage of bringing the car in a CBU form is that the taxes jack up the prices. So Kizashi, whose top model in the US market will set you back by USD 25,000 (around 12-13 lakhs) landed in India with a price tag of 17-18 lakh rupees.
The result was that people started comparing it with other cars that cost the same money such as the Honda Accord and Skoda Superb. Maruti Suzuki aggressively tried to shape the image of the Kizashi as a ‘driver oriented’ car.
click through to read the misdirected script
Suzuki has put out on the market an Indian version of the Kizashi Racing Game (available in the Apple Appstore). If you remember, Volkswagen had a similar game for the Polo hatchback and other manufacturers have tried out similar racing simulations. None of those were India specific. The game is free of cost and assures action and thrill. Like in every other racing game, the car can be driven around [ Read More ]
Maruti’s Kizashi sedan might have exceeded the sales targets, but Maruti’s not the one taking a back seat. Promotional plans have been drawn up and an advertisement campaign will be aired during the ongoing World Cup. Maruti has spent 8 crore rupees on the Ad campaign. Dentsu is the Ad agency. Maruti is presently airing “Value for money” ad along with SX4 Diesel ads at the end of every over. [ Read More ]
By Venkat Chaitanya Mantravadi Venkat is an avid follower of Indian Autos Blog. His garage boasts of a variety of wheels and he’s clearly not happy with Maruti Suzuki Kizashi’s pricing strategy. Maruti Suzuki has launched its much awaited Kizashi in India. Good news? Well surely for Maruti but for customers it certainly isn’t. Kizashi is an aspirational launch from Maruti Suzuki in more than one way. In all their [ Read More ]
The Suzuki Kizashi was launched this morning in Delhi among a limited group of reporters. The vehicle, costing 19-20 lakh rupees on-road depending on the city, carries the Grand Vitara’s powertrain and could end up carrying the same fate too. Maruti Suzuki says it has nine million customers and the Kizashi can be their existing customer’s upgrade. The unfortunate truth is, forget this 19 lakh Maruti or the 20+ lakh [ Read More ]
Maruti Suzuki has launched the Kizashi at Rs 16.50 lakh (manual) and Rs 17.50 lakh (automatic) in Delhi. The Kizashi is powered by a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder petrol engine producing 178PS power and 230Nm torque. The Kizashi is available in black, silver and white in India. For delivery, a waiting period of 8 weeks from the time of booking is present, according to reports. The Kizashi can be booked by depositing [ Read More ]
Maruti’s Kizashi sedan will be launched on the 2nd of February, Financial Chronicle is reporting. The vehicle will be a CBU, imported from parent Suzuki Motor Corporation’s Japanese facility. Expected to be be priced between 17-20 lakh rupees, it will use the Grand Vitara’s 2.4-liter petrol engine mated to an automatic or manual transmission. On an ambitious journey to impress rich customers, variants of the Honda Accord, Skoda Superb, VW [ Read More ]
CNBC TV-18 is reporting that Maruti Suzuki is set to launch its Kizashi luxury saloon into the Indian car market on the 28th of next month. The Kizashi is Suzuki’s first luxury saloon and will be Maruti Suzuki’s first ever offering in the entry level luxury saloon space.
The Kizashi will be launched with both manual and automatic transmission options, But there’s a twist. Contrary to earlier reports, Deccan Herald claims the Kizashi will not feature the 2.4-liter, inline-four, petrol powerplant pumping out 185 bhp of power and 230 Nm of torque.
It instead will be powered using a 2.0-liter petrol engine with slightly less power and torque.
Due to reasons of cost, the Indian Kizashi is most likely to be offered only in Front Wheel Drive (FWD) guise, unlike international markets where an All Wheel Drive (AWD) version is also offered. Maruti Suzuki could launch the AWD version of the Kizashi at a later date, to take on the mighty Skoda Superb 3.6 V6 AWD.
Considering the rivals (Skoda Superb, Honda Accord) awaiting the Kizashi once its launched, Maruti is considering pricing the Kizashi a bit aggressively in the 18-20 lakh price bracket, which will place the Kizashi smack bang in Skoda Superb territory. Such pricing could also give the Kizashi a leg up on its other rival, the Honda Accord.
But, will the weight of the Maruti brand rein in the Kizashi from setting sales charts on fire or will it propel it to the top of the leader board? Only time will tell.
