Maruti Suzuki's Nexa becomes 3rd largest retailer of passenger cars, says senior executive

Maruti Suzuki's premium retail brand Nexa has become the third-largest retailer of passenger cars in the country and currently has a market share of 11 percent, according to a senior executive.

Nexa contributes more than 20 percent of Maruti Suzuki's annual volumes, grossing over 30,000 units per month even in this downturn.

"Today, Nexa is the third largest retail automobile channel with a market share of 10-11 percent. At present, Nexa contributes close to 20 percent of our overall sales. With Nexa, we are able to attract modern urban consumers," Maruti Suzuki Executive Director for Marketing and Sales Shashank Srivastava told PTI.

Maruti Suzuki has a 51 percent share in the domestic passenger car market.

Since the launch with the sole brand S-Cross, Nexa now sells five premium models of Maruti. Nexa started operations in July 2015.

In October 2016, it rolled in the Baleno, the premium mini SUV, which was followed by Ignis, a hatchback in January 2017. In April 2017, it launched the premium sedan Ciaz, and in August 2019 the XL6, a crossover MPV, was rolled out.

At present, there are 370 Nexa showrooms across 200 cities.

"Nexa marks the first initiative by a car maker here to go beyond selling cars by creating a new format of retail experience. In these five years, Nexa, with its intelligent brand associations and unique customer experiences, has delighted over 1.1 million customers as it completed five years in July," Srivastava said.

In just four years and two months, the brand grossed up 1 million customers in September 2019 and by July 2020, added 1 lakh more customers to take the total customer family to 1.1 million.

Srivastava said the first step was to tap the fast evolving market wherein market research has established that driven by rising income levels, many were looking forward to a more customer-centric and a personalised experience in car-buying.

"So, to offer a personalised experience, we have set up a content management system which has helped us personalise communication to each customer depending on the digital signals in their purchase journey," he said, adding that nearly half of Nexa customers are under 35 years of age.

According to Srivastava, the way forward is to stay connected with the customer throughout the year.

In August 2016, Nexa tied up with the Lakme Fashion Week, and in January 2019, Nexa Music was launched.

Srivastava said for the brand Nexa, the first step was to tap the fast-evolving market wherein market research has established that driven by rising income levels, many were looking forward to a more customer-centric and a personalised experience in car-buying.

"Having established a digital connect throughout the year, currently we are focusing on a connected digital + CRM experience with initiatives such as social CRM," he said.

Already, 21 of the 26-steps car-buying process is digitised and a "pilot for a one-of-its-kind digital finance marketplace that assists a customer in her car-buying process by providing easy finance is underway now", he noted.

To drive the customer experience to the next level, it has introduced Nexa Music under which it creates new original English music; Nexa Lifestyle wherein it creates avant-garde lifestyle; and Nexa Journeys under which offers unique travel experience to customers.

Nexa Music, inspired by A R Rahman and other renowned artists, has so far released 29 original English songs and music videos that garnered over 50 million views on Youtube, Srivastava said.

On the journey ahead, he said Nexa will constantly endeavour to continue to re-invent and deliver unique experience for the ever-evolving customers.