Maruti Suzuki has remained the king in the car segment for a long long time now, with its dominance unchallenged for years. Even after global car makers entered India, Maruti Suzuki was hard to beat, owing to fuel efficient and well priced products. India’s largest car maker’s position in the market can also be attributed to competitors doing things wrong in many ways. For instance, the vehicles which came closest to beating Maruti’s top selling products lacked in some area or the other. Like the Hyundai Eon is not as efficient as the Alto 800, the i20 is priced much higher than the Swift and the Honda Brio doesn’t have a diesel engine.
However the lack of diesel engines will no longer be lacking in Honda cars as the Japanese car maker is all set to unleash the diesel powered Amaze in the Indian market next month. Now Maruti Suzuki dominates the sub 4-metre compact sedan segment with the DZire, which comfortably sold more than 18,000 units last month. Honda is aiming to sell 10,000 units of the Amaze every month, which is bound to hurt the sales of the DZire. This has led to Maruti Suzuki taking steps unheard from them before.
Maruti Suzuki is offering discounts on the Swift, yes, you heard that right. Maruti’s second highest selling car which easily clocks 19,000 units a month and has a huge waiting period is being offered with a discount and instant delivery. While its a fact that the automobile market is seeing a slight decline in sales, Maruti Suzuki getting scared of Honda’s upcoming diesel onslaught cannot be denied. Its just a matter of a few weeks, when Maruti Suzuki will announce discount and instant delivery on the Swift DZire as well.
Maruti Suzuki does have quite a few reasons to be scared. The Amaze is not only more powerful than the DZire, its more fuel efficient as well. The Amaze also boasts of more interior space and carries a more premium appeal in the eyes of Indian buyers. The DZire is a abrupt looking car, the Amaze is not. Maruti Suzuki knows all this and needs to react quickly. The Japanese duo are all set to go head on and we have a feeling that the brand with the H on its logo is going to come out on top.
