The dilemma with Maruti Suzuki and Customers
March 25th, 2006 Leave a comment Visited 46 times, 1 so far today
The dilemma with Maruti Suzuki and Customers
I know this because I faced this problem earlier this month. Maruti Zen is (was) the most desirable small car from the Maruti Udyog. Until, they screwed it up with a new styling, which they claimed made the car look more European.
Of course, everyone hated it. At least everyone I talked to hated it. Now, it looks like even Maruti hated it considering they have discontinued the Zen model completely. Now, when I went to the company’s showroom earlier this month to buy my first car, I wanted to get myself a Zen Lxi.
Unfortunately, the news of Zen being discontinued came the same day. I had some idea about this happening from some internal sources so I was not exactly thrilled with the idea of buying a Zen myself.
Now, with Zen being discontinued, I was left with the other choices. I hate the Santro so well; Hyundai was out of the question. Maruti had a couple of options for me. Maruti 800 is bare. Alto does not have enough power. They had a 1.1 liter version of Alto but the idiots discontinued that as well.
Wagon R is not a good-looking car. Some people love it for its size and space, but most people simply hate it. I am one of those. Maruti Suzuki Swift was the only option left. I thought between Hyundai Getz and Suzuki Swift. Chose Swift as my first car.
It looks fantastic. But a month of driving it and I know it’s not as Swifty as Maruti would make you believe. Mileage is bad and it gets scratched so easily that I had rather not drive it into the city. Spares are expensive and insurance was a bit expensive as well.
Now, what is the problem with Maruti? They are forcing the customers who had rather purchase a Zen to buy a Swift instead. In my opinion, Maruti should have never discontinued Zen but should have focused more on showcasing it as a performance vehicle. This is what they are doing with Swift and I am sure every Swift customer would feel cheated by this claim.
The company is now scheduled to launch a diesel version of Swift later this year. If the base model of petrol Swift is priced at Rs. 4 Lakh, the diesel model cannot be priced lower than Rs. 4.5 lakhs. That is going to be expensive for a car this small… People can buy a lower end Ford Ikon for this price!
My best advice to Maruti would be to launch Suzuki Ignis as Maruti Zen to keep alive the brand and make it a fantastic vehicle. If they indeed go ahead and do it, I would be perhaps the first guy to sell my Swift (for a massive bargain I am sure) and get a Zen. I have serious doubts on the second hand market value for a premium compact car, which gives an average of 13kmpl with AC switched off.
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May 7th, 2006 at 11:09 am
First of all I would like to begin with the remark that the Maruti Zen is a fabulous sports car. Forget about its looks, despite being the new face lifted model or not, the fuel injected Zen is a classy performer.The pickup and acceleration is excellent and only the Zen owners will understand how it feels. The stability at higher speeds is excellent too although it has 12″ wheels. Typically a sports car, Zen is considerably economical too delivering 10-12kmplin city and16-20kmpl in highway. What is noteworthy is that this is typically a sports car, and would suit the enthusiasts and not the contemporary drivers.
Although not the most comfortable car, the car is decently comfortable, with good suspension providing good stability and a cool AC cool enough to drive away the sweat at the same time not freezing you. The AC is not the most powerful but is sufficient, saving money in fuel bills.
So why should Maruti do away with such a fantastic car, proven to be successful for more than a decade. Instead of discontinuing, Maruti should consider adding new features such as ABS,EBD and Air bags or atleast make them available in the options list. Although they might come up with a totally new car named ZEN, that will not do the trick since the older ZEN is a proven car.
May 7th, 2006 at 11:19 am
:)