Maruti Suzuki has stopped importing its ambitiously priced Kizashi sedan, as the sedan simply didn’t move off the shelves. One of the rarest sights on Indian roads, the Kizashi was priced optimistically in the Honda Accord territory by Maruti. Lack of a diesel option and Maruti Suzuki’s standing as principally a small car maker turned into the Kizashi’s undoing.
Maruti Suzuki will clear out the current stock of the model by offering discounts as high as Rs 5 lakh. This would bring the ex-showroom price of the car down to as low as Rs 11.5 lakh for the manual variant and Rs 12.5 lakh for the automatic version. That or a slightly higher figure, in our honest opinion would have been the right price point for the car. Optimistic pricing has sounded the death knell for many good car models, and it simply beats us as to why carmakers keep committing the same mistake over and over again. New Ford Fiesta, Tata Aria, Renault Pulse, VW Polo – there are umpteen examples of manufacturers giving in to their greed for margin, killing their products even before they are born.
The Kizashi, just like its SUV sibling Grand Vitara, will now be imported only when there’s a booking.
Source: TOI print edition