No Car Below Maruti 800: Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki India today denied reports of plans to launch a small car with a 660cc engine positioned below the Maruti 800 and priced at Rs 1.5 lakh.

According to a release issued by Maruti to the BSE today, "as announced earlier, the company has no plans to launch a car like the one mentioned in the report. The Project "Under A" mentioned in the report refers perhaps to the "A Under" - the earlier code name for the A-Star model.

"Maruti offered the first People's Car, Maruti 800, about 24 years ago. Since then, India's middle class and Maruti's customers have grown in every facet of their lives. Their incomes have gone up significantly. Their lifestyles have improved in ways that were hard to imagine a decade ago. Within the space of a generation, the "People" who bought "People's Cars" have transformed almost beyond recognition.

"With that, expectations from a car have evolved considerably. Car customers now generally settle for nothing less than contemporary styling, international quality and latest features that enhance their safety and convenience while expecting performance and fuel efficiency like their parents did before them.

"These changing preferences are reflected in the sales data for existing segments in the car market: models and variants that promise only economy and low acquisition cost are increasingly losing out to models and variants that are rich in features and style. The company find this trend holds true across segments including among entry level cars.

"In experience, the company's entry level car customers nurture a high degree of aspiration, both in new cars as well as pre-owned. They want more from their cars in terms of features, performance, safety and versatility.

"Maruti Suzuki has been able to notice and understand this transformation largely due to its close relationship with customers throughout the period of their car ownership.

"Suzuki and Maruti's approach of "World Strategic Models", which includes cars like Swift, SX4 and Grand Vitara, ensures that Indian customers get international quality and style at the same time as customers in markets like Europe and Japan. The success of these cars in the market has endorsed our view, and the company want to pursue this strategy with greater vigour in future.

"In future, the company plans to launch world strategic models like Splash and A-Star as part of the same conscious efforts to offer international quality and design to Indian customers at an attractive price.

"The company's view is that as Indian middle class families move up in life, they should continue to receive a range of cars from Maruti Suzuki that offer superior quality, international design and rich features. That is where its focus will lie.

"Maruti Suzuki reiterates that it has no plans of developing or offering a new car below the Maruti 800."

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/

Geneva Preview: Suzuki To Show A-Star

Suzuki is to show its A-Star city car concept at the Geneva Motor Show in early March.

The A-Star, to be built in India in partnership with local manufacturer Maruti, made its debut recently at the New Delhi Auto Expo. It's a small five-door hatchback with a new 1.0-litre petrol engine which meets the Euro 5 emissions standards and gives carbon dioxide emissions of less than 109g/km. A diesel engine is also under consideration.

Suzuki promises that the A-Star 'will prove that sporty and exciting performance can be enjoyed together with outstanding fuel economy', and from the pictures released so far, it certainly looks the part.

The A-Star, which may not continue with the Alto name, is intended for sale in Europe as well as India and production will start in December 2008. Suzuki will invest ¥200bn into its Indian factories by 2009, increase the Maruti Suzuki facility to 960,000 cars a year by 2010 and expand research and development activity in the country.

Suzuki will also display the Splash mini-MPV, the concept Kizashi and Kizashi 2 prototype family cars, and its 2008-specification SX4 WRC rally car, to make its debut later this month at the Monte Carlo Rally.

Maruti To Beef Up R&D

Maruti Suzuki is planning to treble the number of engineers and designers at its R&D (research and development) centre over the next three years.

The company at present has little less than 300 people in its R&D wing. This will go up to 1,000 in three years, according to company sources.

The move on the R&D front comes even as Maruti Suzuki is gearing to roll out a range of new models such as Swift Sedan, A-Star and Splash in the near term. In the medium-term, it is planning to launch the D-segment car, Kizashi.

The company is also stepping up work in alternative fuel segments like LPG, where it has shown success with WagonR Duo and Omni. “Maruti has an aggressive plan for model launches in the next few years. This will require plenty of design and development work for which we have to step up capability,” a top company official said.

S. Nakanishi, Managing Director, had asserted that Maruti was ready to play a major role in Suzuki’s global operations. It is integrating rapidly with Suzuki’s gameplan of launching world strategic models. In the light of the success of world strategic models like Swift and SX4, Maruti will be launching other Suzuki world models like Splash and A-Star in the next 12-18 months.

The A-Star will be manufactured exclusively by Maruti and exported to Europe and the rest of the world. Suzuki Chairman and CEO, O. Suzuki, had always wanted Maruti’s R&D facilities to be on a par with Suzuki Japan.

Maruti To Roll Out Rs 10-lakh Kizashi In 2010

A number of global car makers may be queuing up to compete in the crowded compact car space with a flurry of launches but the original mini major is looking the other way.

Passenger car market leader Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is planning to move into the luxury family car market with the Kizashi in 2010.

Kizashi, currently in the concept stage, was first unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007. It is expected to be the first all-wheel drive sedan in the luxury D segment.

It will carry an advanced four-valve turbo-fired two-litre petrol, Euro V engine, which will also be premiered at the same time. It is also likely to boast the first six-speed transmission from the Suzuki stable. A crossover sports sedan, Kizashi, which depicts an athlete in motion, is likely to sport 21” wheels.

It is expected to roll out of Maruti’s sprawling 500-acre Manesar facility.

The car will be positioned in the Rs-10 lakh-plus price band and will compete with the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Sonata, SkodaAuto Octavia and Volkswagen Jetta besides other cars that will debut in the next three years.

According to industry sources, Maruti engineers have already started working on the Kizashi to take it from the concept stage to the production platform and customise the luxury sedan for rugged Indian conditions.

Maruti To Expand Diesel Line

Delhi’s diesel dilemma does not seem to have dampened the auto industry’s interest in this fuel option. India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki (MSI) plans to add a new set of engines to its diesel range as part of its long-term growth strategy.

It is moving away from the solitary diesel car maker image and will expand its portfolio beyond the bestselling Swift diesel.

Without outlining any timeline for the new engines, Suzuki Motor Corporation chairman Osamu Suzuki told ET: “Currently, we have the 1.3 litre multijet diesel engine being used only in Swift. We are considering more types of engine that can be introduced as there is a need to expand the diesel portfolio. Some options are being studied for smaller diesel engines.”

The company is expanding its diesel engine capacity from 1 lakh units to 3 lakh units at its Manesar facility. While the 1.3 litre engine used in the premium hatchback Swift will also be strapped on to the new offering Splash, the smaller engines that the company plans to develop at this facility will fire other compact cars. Maruti is studying options for smaller engines from Suzuki Powertrain India. “The possibility of fuel-efficient small diesel engines in future cannot be ruled out. Besides the 1.3 litre diesel engine, an expanded range will help us keep our market share intact,” said an MSI executive.

These small engines are targeted at the European market which is predominantly diesel unlike India where diesel comprises around 25% of the market. For Suzuki’s new world car A-Star — to be manufactured in India and exported mainly to the European market — the Japanese company may consider a diesel option besides the already announced 1.0 litre petrol engine.

“In case, the diesel engine is considered for this car at any point of time in future, Suzuki is open to evaluate various diesel engine options available at that time,” an MSI spokesperson said.

The company also plans to counter the growing breed of smaller diesel engines being launched by other companies like Hyundai Motor India (HMI) and General Motors. Hyundai’s new small car i10 will have a 1.1 litre diesel engine (the smallest in the market) and will soon debut in Europe. General Motors is considering a diesel engine option for its compact model Spark.

Maruti Suzuki Looks At rolling Out 'World Car' From India

Suzuki Motor is looking at launching its next "world car" from India, reports agency sources.

The car is likely to be rolled out from the Maruti Suzuki India's (MSI) facility situated at Manesar. This car is targeted at the European market.

It is believed that, the chairman of the company, Osamu Suzuki will be in India next week and he is also likely to make an announcement on the company's plans for the new global car, sources said.

The new car will be the fifth global model from Suzuki and is being jointly developed by MSI and SMC, sources added.

MSI is increasing the capacity at its Manesar plant to nearly 3 lakh units by 2010; currently it has a capacity of one lakh. The scaling up is done to accommodate the production of the new 'world car'. MSI's new R&D facility spread over 500 acre to be set up at its Manesar facility will also house a vehicle test track.

Source: http://www.myiris.com/

Suzuki To Make Compact, Low-Emissions Hatchback In India Geared For Global Export

Beginning next October, Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. plans to make a new compact hatchback in India that will be sold all over the world, the company's chairman said Tuesday.

The plan is part of Suzuki's efforts to make India an export hub. It also is intended to keep Suzuki Motor Corp.'s majority share of the Indian car market as competition mounts in the coming years.

"Our next world car will be made in India," Chairman Osamu Suzuki told reporters in New Delhi. "We are going to commence production after autumn 2008."

The one-liter gasoline engine car will not only comply with the most stringent pollution control rules but also keep carbon emissions lower than those of its European competitors, Suzuki said.

It will come with a "very attractive" price tag, the company said without giving details.

Suzuki holds a controlling 54 percent stake in Maruti Suzuki Ltd., India's largest car maker, which is expanding its factory in the northern Indian town of Manesar to prepare for production.

"In a year or year and half, we would have tripled production at the Manesar plant to 300,000 units," said Jagdish Khattar, managing director at Maruti Suzuki.

About 150,000 units of the new car will be manufactured annually at the Manesar plant, Suzuki said. A third of this will be exported, while the rest will be sold in India, he said.

The new car — code named A-Star — is part of Maruti Suzuki's ongoing efforts to protect its market share in India, which stood at 54 percent last year.

The company plans to invest 200 billion yen (US$1.8 billion, €1.22 billion) between 2007 and 2009 to increase capacity, bring new models and shift manufacturing of more engines to India.

The car is the first model that has involved designers from Maruti Suzuki's research and development division in India from its initial stage of its styling, a company statement said.

Suzuki said the company wants to further strengthen its research and development work in India.

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/11/business/AS-FIN-COM-India-Suzuki.php

Suzuki Boss Sceptical About 3,000 Dollar Car

Suzuki Motor is taking a cautious view of the race to build a 3,000-dollar car in India, where the Japanese mini-car specialist is the market leader, its chief executive said Wednesday.

India's Tata Motors has previously said it plans to introduce a 3,000-dollar car in its home market next year, while Nissan and Renault are also considering jointly launching a similarly priced vehicle in India by 2010.

But Suzuki chairman and chief executive Osamu Suzuki expressed scepticism about prospects for such a low-priced vehicle.

"Global standards for emissions, environmental protection and also automobile safety are all becoming stricter each year. It's not really clear which standards, in which year, this 3,000-dollar car is aiming to meet.

"For example, will airbags be included? Will there be seatbelts? These are questions that really need to be considered," he told reporters.

"So our fundamental stance is that rather than Suzuki becoming very concerned and watching over its shoulder to see what other people are doing, Suzuki has decided to move forward at its own pace," he said.

Suzuki was an early entrant into the Indian market when the billion-plus nation started opening up its economy in the 1990s following decades of socialist protectionism.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited, majority owned by the Japanese automaker, now has a market share of more than 50 percent in the fast-growing Indian market, but its dominance is being increasingly challenged by global automakers.

"Going forward the idea of our being able to maintain this 55 percent share is something that's going to be very difficult to achieve," said Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

"We will strive to keep this very large market share. However we do realise that competition is going to be fierce going forward," he said.

Chief executive Suzuki was more optimistic.

"We will forever maintain a 50 percent or more share of the (Indian) market. It all really depends on the product," he said.

Maruti To Hike Prices Across All Models

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's biggest carmaker, will increase prices of its cars across all models by up to Rs 12,000 from next month to offset the rise in input costs and freight charges.

According to dealer sources, the company has cited higher costs of raw materials such as lead and aluminium as well as oil among the reasons for increasing the vehicle prices.

Sources said Maruti has written to its dealers across the country that the prices will be increased from January 2008. Further, the company's production facilities will be shut down for maintenance activities during December 24-31 and the dealers have been asked to plan their bookings accordingly.

Maruti officials declined to comment on the issue.

Sources also said MSIL has told its dealers that the higher prices would be applicable on dispatches of vehicles from the date of announcement of the price hike and there would not be any price protection for pending orders at the company level.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200712071632.htm

Maruti To Hike Prices Across All Models

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's biggest carmaker, will increase prices of its cars across all models by up to Rs 12,000 from next month to offset the rise in input costs and freight charges.

According to dealer sources, the company has cited higher costs of raw materials such as lead and aluminium as well as oil among the reasons for increasing the vehicle prices.

Sources said Maruti has written to its dealers across the country that the prices will be increased from January 2008. Further, the company's production facilities will be shut down for maintenance activities during December 24-31 and the dealers have been asked to plan their bookings accordingly.

Maruti officials declined to comment on the issue.

Sources also said MSIL has told its dealers that the higher prices would be applicable on dispatches of vehicles from the date of announcement of the price hike and there would not be any price protection for pending orders at the company level.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200712071632.htm