India’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, has reported a decline of sales in the small car segment. The revenue of Maruti Suzuki’s small cars such as the Alto and the Wagon-R grew from 5.2 % for the year 2014-15 to a 6.7 % for the year 2015-16, both till the month of October. However the mid-sized segment featuring the Ciaz and the super-compact segment featuring the Swift-Dzire saw a steady rise in demand from 142.8 % to 150.2 % and -7.2 % to 249.8 % respectively.
Understanding what the consumer wants and calculating the changing market trend, Maruti shifted their focus on mid segment cars such as the Ertiga, Ciaz and the S-Cross. Maruti also went ahead in this segment by offering a premium dealership experience through their brand, Nexa. RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti-Suzuki India was quoted saying that they will offer what the customer wants and will never ignore the small car segment. Rakesh Batra, Partner and National Leader auto Sector, Ernst & Young was also quoted saying that Maruti has made a huge customer base over the years and when the customer wants to upgrade he can be retained if there is a product at different price points.
Maruti has recently been concentrating more on the mid size segment which can be seen with the launches of the S-Cross, Baleno and upcoming cars such as the face-lifted Ertiga and a compact SUV. Do you think Maruti will sustain in the mid segment market or add to their list of flop vehicles like the Baleno and the SX4? Let us know what you think via comments.