Auto companies in India including the foreign auto manufacturers have understood the Maruti strategy in India which makes it the biggest player in the country. Most of the Maruti products in India are built on the same platform and the company launches hatchbacks and sedan variants of the same model. This has helped Maruti to have the largest product portfolio and yet keep the costs under control.
Maruti Swift Dzire is built on similar platform as its hatchback model Swift. Dzire is the highest selling sedan in the country and owes its origin to Maruti Swift. The sedan model is priced at Rs. 4.6 lakh to Rs. 6.7 lakh including petrol and diesel models. It sold 60,000 units last year with some of its variants having a delivery lag time of as much as two months due to heavy bookings across the country.
Other car manufacturers like Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen are ready to walk the Maruti footsteps in India. Toyota intends to launch its small car Yaris next year. It will also launch a sedan model sharing the same platform. Similarly, Volkswagen will also launch its Polo hatchback model this year. It will also launch its third sedan in India a few months later next year on the same platform after launching successful models like Jetta and Passat.
“India will be the only market where both versions of the Polo will be made available. Both cars will be positioned in a way to avoid competing with Skoda Fabia,” said Jorg Muller, Volkswagen India president and managing director.
Honda is also launching its small car Jazz next month in India. It shares its platform with existing sedan Honda city. Jazz will be a premium hatchback model from Honda that will be priced Rs. 5.5 lakh and above.
