Maruti Suzuki, the largest car maker of the country, has come up with goodies worth Rs. 3 lacs on the sale of its premium sedan Kizashi to lure a large number of buyers before the start of festive season. Brought as a Completely Built Unit (CBU), the model was introduced in the Indian auto industry in February 2011 in a view that the addition of a premium vehicle in the company's portfolio will push the brand in higher segments. However, the model was unable to find a good number of buyers and thus, was kept in the possession of auto maker for a long time.
Since the model is brought as a CBU, it is attached with an import duty of over 105 per cent, which thereby makes its price two-fold. The company is also planning to set up a local assembly unit for Kizashi in India, following the response gathered by Indian buyers after reduced prices.
In the first five months of this fiscal, Kizashi witnessed a drastic fall of 85 per cent in its sales with mere 23 deliveries during the period. As per the figures issued by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the car maker sold 157 units in the same period last year. Maruti Suzuki found that none of the buyer was ready to spend around Rs. 17 lacs to own a manual version of the premium model and thus, it was forced to slash the prices of Kizashi by Rs. 3.12 lac in the form of discounts.
Interestingly, the same segment models or in fact pricier cars than Kizashi, including Skoda Superb, Honda Accord, Nissan Teana and Hyundai Sonata, enjoys a better share in the premium sedan segment of domestic market.
The model has been incorporated with some of the advance features like its engine holds a direct ignition system, which helps it to deliver an improved mileage with controlled emissions. Industry experts believe that the move selected by the auto maker might change the tides in its favour as the discount of Rs. 3 lacs is quite enticing.
