Maruti Suzuki of late has witnessed unprecedented competition from carmakers from around the world in the domestic market. Global carmakers have put their focus on the small car market in India, creating trouble for the market leader. In a bid to address the rising competition, Maruti Suzuki plans to launch a product salvo focusing primarily on the small and low-cost cars.
Country’s leading financial newspaper ET is reporting that company officials privy to the plan are indicating that there may be 15-20 model launches by the car maker in next 5 years. 70 to 80 percent of these launches will be in the small car segment. Not all of these would be brand new launches though, with some of them being facelifts and variants. MSIL is working in tandem with its mother company based in Japan on its future product portfolio.
The closes to production of these new launches include
1. Swift DZire CS (sub 4 meter) at the 2012 Auto Expo in Delhi
2. The RIII Concept based MPV which has been spotted several times
3. A Star facelift in 2012
4. Ritz facelift in 2012
5. Next generation Alto, to be launched in 2013
The upcoming R&D facility will play a pivotal role in the development of these vehicles. The new R&D center will be functional by early 2014. With high levels of local design and development, the R&D center will facilitate lower costs and prices for the future vehicles. The contribution of Indian designers and engineers in the development of these new vehicles would be much higher than their contribution percentage currently.
No specifics were revealed on any products apart from the ones listed above. What do you think could be the other products that Maruti plans to launch in the next few years? Guesses or insider info, anything is welcome. Do comment!
Source: ET