(This entry was originally uploaded on May 2009.)
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. today launched its latest premium compact car, Maruti Ritz, today. A hatchback car, Maruti Suzuki launched both petrol and diesel version of Maruti Ritz. The price starts from Rs.3,90,000 to Rs.4,99,000.
Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., told reporters that Maruti Ritz is the fifth global model introduced by Suzuki Motor Corporation. and it is the first car in India to meet the Bharat Stage-IV emission norms. Both the diesel and petrol variants of the car will follow the emission norms. Mr. Nakanishi hopes that the car will yield great result for the company. Maruti Suzuki has no plans to export the car at this moment.
The design of the car adopts the “tallboy” philosophy and it is positioned for the A2 market segment. Overall, Maruti Ritz design adopts European style. India is one of the major markets for small cars. When we think of small cars, naturally we think of cheap cars that can be bought by people with tight budgets. When Maruti Suzuki started its operation in India, it produced low cost cars. The Maruti Suzuki 800, the first car launched by the company, was a low priced car which became immensely success and revolutionized the Indian auto industry. Though launched in 1984, Maruti Suzuki 800 still generates respectable amount of revenue for the company. Maruti decided to scrap the production of Maruti Suzuki 800 but later decided to upgrade its engine to meet India’s new emission norms.
However, things have changed a lot in India. With the rising economy and rapidly expanding capacity of the Indian middle class, people are not looking for low priced cars anymore. Indians living in large metropolis are going for compact cars that are stylish, well designed, offer more comfort and good driving experience. The year 2009 will be marked as the year of India’s transition toward premium compact cars. Many companies are going to launch their own premium compact cars this year and in the earlier part of 2010. For instance, Honda Motors will launch Honda Jazz, Fiat will launch Fiat Grande Punto. Hyundai Motor Company, which already launched successful compact cars like Hyundai Santro, Hyundai i10 and Hyundai Getz, is going to launch Hyundai i20. Initially, Hyundai Motors planned to sell 1,000 units of Hyundai i20 every month but the demand has already doubled and Hyundai expects to see further increase in the demand.
Maruti Ritz has been developed on the platform of Maruti Swift which enabled the company to offer the car at a lower price. In addition, a large portion of the parts of the car were produced in India.
Mr. Nakanishi said that MSIL has not fixed any sales target for the car yet because it it is tough to predict the future trend in a highly competitive car market like India. Moreover, the country is now coming out from economic recession. However, Mr. Nakanishi said that his company has all the capabilities to meet the requirements.
The petrol version of Ritz would be available in three variants with price tags ranging from Rs.3,90,000 to Rs.4,80,000. The diesel run Maruti Ritz will come in two variants priced between Rs.4,65,000 and Rs.4,99,000. The prices are introductory offers and subject to change at a later date.
The launch of the new car also drove up Maruti Suzuki’s share prices. Today, shares of Maruti Suzuki observed an intraday high of Rs.852 and intraday low of Rs.837.25.
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