Maruti Suzuki wants to up its game in the premium segment and hence is coming up with new Nexa showrooms to sell some of their newer cars which cost upwards of Rs. 1 million.
Maruti Suzuki has spent Rs. 600 crores for the development of the S-Cross premium crossover which is set to be launched in India by the first week of August. The vehicle will be offered with two diesel engines – 1.3-litre and 1.6-litre and no petrol engine will be offered. Maruti officials stated that newer age diesel engines have CRDI technology and hence they produce less clatter and NVH levels are also low. The S-Cross will be fighting it out majorly with the Renault Duster and Nissan Terrano while its other rival is the Ford EcoSport.
Maruti is starting a new range of showrooms called Nexa (stands for New Exclusive Automotive Experience) and these new dealerships (will be opened by existing dealers) will cater only to premium customers of the brand. The S-Cross will be the first vehicle to be sold through the company’s new Nexa dealerships. Nexa showrooms are a part of Maruti’s plan to capture the premium vehicle segment in India. The company is setting up these exclusive dealerships and around 100 of them will be opened across the country by the end of this financial year. Maruti Suzuki has identified 30 key cities for these dealerships which are not just limited to metros. The first Nexa dealership has been opened in Delhi while Bengaluru will get these showrooms at St. Marks Road in Central Bengaluru and opposite EMC Mall in East Bengaluru.
The Nexa showrooms will follow a colour scheme of black and white and right now only the S-Cross will be displayed here. Customers will get valet parking at these showrooms too. The showrooms will be tech savvy and will have huge spotlights focusing only on the vehicle. Every customer will have an exclusive relationship manager and these managers will have an iPad which will be paired to a TV. The iPad will also store history about the customer and his details including the type of coffee and music that he/she likes. Maruti Suzuki has picked up around 700 relationship managers from various hospitality industries like airlines, banks and Audi, BMW, Mercedes dealerships.
The relationship managers have been trained at JW Marriott hotel for a period of 7 days. This won’t be a typical customer-salesman relationship and buyers will be treated such as they are meeting a friend. The showrooms will get a distinct makeover and Maruti is looking to change the way cars are bought in the country. The S-Cross won’t be available at other regular Maruti dealerships but customers can contact these regular showrooms which will redirect them to the nearest Nexa dealership. The company will have 25 models on sale by 2020, targeting 2 million sales an annum.
Maruti will cover 75% of the market with these dealerships and they will focus more on quality over quantity. The company is also not looking to break even but will focus more on customer satisfaction. Nexa dealerships will have their own service networks which will be operated via the ‘Hub n Spoke’ model. A pick up and drop facility will also be offered while customers can also avail of doorstep service. With Maruti showing so much aggressiveness in upping their game, will rivals respond by improving their retail experience?
