Compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) is the new craze of the automobile industry with almost every major company rolling out with its own variant in this segment. Maruti Suzuki India has been a pioneer in the domestic hatchback market since its existence. With the passage of time, it has earned for itself the name of most reliable car brand in India. A major chunk of the nation's population looks out for cars by this company on the first instance. Years back there was no proper choice for SUV enthusiasts due to which the sale of these cars were less. But now, there is no dearth of good options in this segment starting from Renault Duster to the recently released Nissan Terrano. However, there is a threat coming up for all the models that had been flourishing in the market. Maruti Suzuki India, the most trusted car brand is now plunging into the utility vehicle segment with XA Alpha.
As of now, three models to enjoy the preference of SUV customers are Renault Duster, Ford EcoSport and Nissan Terrano. But the question that is constantly rising with the launch of Maruti Suzuki XA Alpha coming soon is would the latest entry cause a big threat to the sales of these three cars that, for long, have been performing amazingly well in the market. Maruti Suzuki unveiled XA Alpha during the Auto Expo that took place in 2012 at New Delhi and was expected to launch it by the year end. Later on, there were rumours about the car will be coming out in 2014. However, if reports are to be believed it may not launch by Auto Expo 2014 as the company has run into some prototype issues. The SUV will most probably come out in the second half of 2014 which is definitely not a good news of Maruti Suzuki loyalists. But this can work on the positive side for companies like Ford, Renault and Terrano that depend a lot on these SUVs for their sales growth.
Industry experts are of a view that this would definitely work for the benefit of Maruti Suzuki's rivals but not for long as in any case the company would launch its highly anticipated model in the second half of 2014. Maruti Suzuki XA Alpha is based on the concept version of the Ertiga (R-III Concept) and like all of its cars is expected to be a 'value for money four-wheeler. The company is also working on two other launches that would come out pretty soon with YL7 hatchback and YL1 sedan. The YL7 hatchback is expected to replace A-Star while YL1 sedan would replace SX4.
When talking about the space being provided by the three major SUVs, Ford EcoSport win the bet over Renault Duster and Nissan Terrano. Ford has put in an intelligent strategy by offering the best of features at highly aggressive price tag. It quite a known fact that the major population of this country puts its budget on the first priority and Ford has just tried to cash in maximum number of buyers on this parameter. As per reports, Ford managed to get bookings as much as Renault churned out in a span of ten months. However, major factors associated with its success is the wide dealership network, the demand for SUV and the aggressive pricing strategy. The trendy styling of Nissan Terrano does make Renault Duster designing a bit obsolete. However, the facelifted version could decline the sales of Nissan Terrano. As of now, all these cars have been performing quite satisfactorily in the market. The release of Maruti XA Alpha could, however, cause a threat to the sales of these three SUVs.
