Fighting lower sales of its six-month-old premium crossover, S-Cross, Maruti Suzuki played a masterstroke by cutting price of S-Cross by over Rs 2 lakh to stay afloat in the highly competitive Indian car market.
The company, however, increased prices of its premium hatchback, Baleno, by Rs 5,000-12,000 ex-showroom, as the demand for this model remains high.
Maruti has been able to sell only 17,000 units of S-Cross since its launch in August last year, whereas the sales of its premium hatchback Baleno, which was launched in October, crossed 28,000 units.
S-Cross models, which were available at Rs 11.99 lakh, Rs 12.99 lakh and Rs 13.74 lakh, will now be available at Rs 9.94, Rs 10.94 lakh and Rs 11.69 lakh respectively. The company sells S-Cross and Baleno through its Nexa outlets.
“We have undertaken a price correction in the 1.6 litre variant, and since then sales have picked up,” Maruti Suzuki India Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) R S Kalsi told reporters.
A few days ago, Maruti had said that it received good response for new cars at its Nexa showrooms. The company sells only S-Cross and Baleno through its Nexa outlets. The company had said that the branded dealership selling premium cars accounted for more than 11 per cent of total sales.
Maruti believes that despite low demand at present, S-Cross will continue to lead in brand building of Nexa chain. “It is just the start of evolution of crossovers in the country. Gradually, the customers will find value in it and start accepting the crossovers,” Maruti said.
Published 19 January 2016, 20:25 IST