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Maruti Suzuki Launched five new models with CNG option

admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:08:55 +0000

Maruti Suzuki Launched five new models with CNG option

As it battles rising competition, Maruti Suzuki drove in five new models with CNG option, including its best-seller Alto. The company will offer factory-fitted CNG cars, and the models are priced at a premium of about Rs 50,000 to the petrol-only version. Maruti’s market share slipped below 50% after the launch of compacts from Ford, Volkswagen and GM.

Apart from the Alto LXi (Rs 3.23 lakh), other models to sport CNG option are Estilo LXi (Rs 4.05 lakh) and WagonR LXi (Rs 4.11 lakh), Eeco 5-seater multipurpose (Rs 3.64 lakh) and SX4 VXi sedan (Rs 7.47 lakh).

The CNG variants are priced approximately Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 more than their non CNG versions, but it is the first time that the kits are being fitted at the factory. The advantages of a factory fitment are they are safer, covered under warranty and suffer minimal power loss.

“CNG offers lower running cost of up to 60 per cent while it ensures lower import of oil and also lower emission levels,” said Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director and CEO, MSIL.

Maruti Suzuki has unveiled its flagship CNG engine technology dubbed ‘intelligent-Gas Port Injection’ technology’ or i-GPI. This technology will be implemented on five models.

The technology is a dual engine control unit that delivers gas to the engine to ensure improved and consistent performance under a variety of driving conditions. The quantity of compressed natural gas required for different driving conditions is controlled by the dedicated unit which offers more efficient fuel usage.

It also means there is more power when compared to retrofitted compressed natural gas vehicles and there is a peppier ride more reminiscent of a petrol engine.
Each vehicle has passed quality checks and customers will enjoy the full warranty benefits, including an extended warranty.
The Government of India has committed to developing a network of compressed natural gas stations across the country in an effort to reduce the reliance on foreign fossil fuels.

Currently there are 9.4 lakh CNG cars in the country with around 600 outlets, where as other countries such as Pakistan has over 3,000 filling stations and around 50 per cent of all vehicles are run on CNG.

MarutiSuzuki to lauch Alto, Eeco, Estilo, Wagon R And Sx4 In CNG Version during the second week of August 2010

admin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 04:22:59 +0000

MarutiSuzuki to lauch Alto, Eeco, Estilo, Wagon R And Sx4 In CNG Version during the second week of August 2010

Maruti Suzuki, India’s No.1 car maker is gearing up to launch five cars with factory fitted CNG kits during the second week of August 2010. This aggressive move reflects Maruti’s commitment to better environment as well as to stay ahead of competition among its rivals.
Maruti will launch CNG variant of Alto, Estilo, Wagon R, Eeco and Sx4. According to MSI Chief General Manager (Marketing) Shashank Srivastava, the CNG models will be very important inMaruti’s portfolio. Maruti Suzuki is the first company to come out with factory-fitted CNG cars and Maruti will have the first mover’s advantage in the market.

Maruti will launch all the five CNG cars on a single day in the second week of August because there is no particular segment for CNG cars unlike other models, which can be specified into different strata and this is a launch of ‘ factory fitted CNG’ technology and not cars. Besides the launch of five CNG versions, Maruti will launch Alto K10, a new variant of Alto with 998 cc K series engine.

Maruti to resume sale of LPG version of Duo till time new WagonR LPG gets ready

Maruti also informed that it is very unlikely that the LPG version of new WagonR will be ready to deliver into the market this year and therefore decided to resume the sales of Duo with LPG.

It is clear that Maruti Suzuki does not want to loose on sale of its LPG variant until the new version gets ready. It is also interesting to know that Duo was contributing about 20-22 percent of total WagonR sales which is 10,000-12,000 units per month. Maruti made an announcement of its decision to resumes the sales of Duo LPG and Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chief General Manager (Marketing) Shashank Srivastava said, “We are now selling the ‘Duo’ and it will continue till the LPG variant of the new WagonR is ready. The work on new LPG is going on.”

Though Maruti had earlier made it clear that the company will stop the production of Duo and any decision to launch the LG variant of the new WagonR will depend entirely upon the market demand. And now it seems that Maruti has found all the good reasons to launch new WagonR in LPG and resume the sales of Duo with LPG version.

Huge demand for Eeco forces buyers to wait for 4 months

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:35:55 +0000

Huge demand for Eeco forces buyers to wait for 4 months

The Eeco seems to have delivered what the Versa failed to do for Maruti Suzuki, India’s leading car manufacturer. Buyers of Maruti Eeco face a 3-4 months waiting list for delivery, as the company grapples with demand and supply mismatch.

Maruti Suzuki Eeco is a five-door, C-segment vehicle, specifically designed for India by the auto-major with a particular focus to offer “space” and “comfort” for a large family. Launched at the recent Auto Expo 2010, the Eeco comes with both five-seater and a seven-seater option.

“The product has received overwhelming customer response for its attractive power, good air-conditioning, looks and high utility value,” an official spokesperson of the company said.

“All these features along with attractive prices have got us many more buyers than what we had planned. This has resulted in a shortfall in supply as compared to the huge demand and we are now trying to increase production so as to match the demand scenario,” he explained.

According to trade sources, there is a waiting list drawn at almost every dealership for Eeco. It generally varies between 3-4 months and in some regions it may even be 6-7 months.

“Dealers are unable to give a firm date of delivery and are only stating that no firm delivery schedule has come to them from the company,” a Chennai-based buyer, who booked the vehicle in the third week of January, told this correspondent on condition of anonymity.

“We are trying our best to increase production and we expect the average monthly sales initially will be around 3,000 per month,” the spokesperson said.

According to the company, most of the buyers of Eecho are “upgraders from the Omni”. Eeco is available in three variants and comes in six colours, offering a range of choice.

source mydigitalfc

With Eeco, Maruti seeks to fill Omni gap

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:56:15 +0000

Maruti Suzuki launch EEco

Maruti Suzuki is betting big on the multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) segmeexecutive officer (engineering), said there were certain things we could not include in Omni such as air-conditioning and more-than-basic interiors.

“By introducing Eeco, we will nt, and to make a mark in this space it has launched a family car Eeco— a step forward from its Omni, which with time has become more of a cargo carrier than a passenger vehicle.

Through Eeco, Maruti seeks to fill the gaps left by Omni. I V Rao, managing see many people upgrading from Omni, so to that extent there will be elementary-level cannibalisation,” Rao said.

Mayank Pareek, executive officer (marketing and sales), said that cannibalisation would be to the extent of 7-8%. Omni sells around 8,000 units a month.

But this is not worrying Maruti as the company has been following the strategy of introducing multiple products in the same segment.

In the MPV segment for commercial usage so far there is Tata Magic, and during the Auto Expo, the company launched Magic Iris, the upgraded version of Magic, and an MPV, Tata Venture.

Soon, Nissan will also drive in with an MPV codenamed NV200. Pareek said it’s important to be in this segment as it is a growing, “but our attempt is to create a completely new segment which is more of a passenger car than a cargo carrier, which is the case with Magic. So far in the personal MPV category, there are no players.”

He said the company is hopeful of gaining good volumes and stronghold in this segment which was dying down due to Omni fading popularity.

Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki, said, “Eeco performs the twin objectives of being a spacious family car and a dependable vehicle to run businesses.”

Eeco is built on the Versa platform with a new 1.2 litre engine, which is a derivative of the G-series engine and has features of the K-series engine. Rao said it is a fuel-efficient and low-cost derivative of the G- and K-series engines.

But Mahantesh Sabarad, senior analyst, Centrum Broking said Maruti is trying to get a product premium to Omni (Eeco is priced at Rs 60,000 more than Omni) and tap the cab-on-call segment where so far only high-priced sedans exist.

“So far India does not have a low-priced MPV and this is the market Maruti may be trying to capture. But what plays to its disadvantage is that Eeco is available only in petrol variant, whereas a diesel variant is preferred in this segment. I think this product will do well in class A cities and metros, and will find application in the cab-on-call segment,” Sabarad said.

However, Pareek said the product is meant for customers belonging to SEC A/B. Sticking to its strategy of introducing more than one product per segment, Maruti is developing another MPV, RIII, which is 100% India-made, right from design, development and engineering.

short press release

Maruti Suzuki, the country ‘s number one automobile manufacturer, has launched Eeco, an all-new spacious family car.

The Maruti Suzuki Eeco is a five-door, C segment vehicle, which has been specifically designed for India by the auto-major.

Eeco comes with a new, powerful and highly fuel efficient 1200 cc engine. This new engine delivers 73 bhp of raw power @6000rpm, a high torque of 101Nm@3000rpm specifically designed to meet the Indian driving conditions.

source: dna india and Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki launch EEco