Maruti Suzuki to launch Kizashi early next month

The country’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), has firmed up plans to launch its luxury sports sedan Kizashi early next month.

The car, to be imported as completely built units from Japan, is expected to be priced at Rs 16-18 lakh. Executives at MSIL declined to comment on the pricing points, but said Kizashi would be the most expensive car in the Maruti portfolio. Kizashi would be officially launched on the second of next month.

Mayank Pareek, managing executive officer (marketing and sales), MSIL, said, “With Kizashi, we will complete the range of products we have on offer. The luxury car segment is not big at the moment. But going ahead, the A4 and A5 segment will grow considerably. This car is our attempt to be future ready.”

Kizashi is a crossover luxury sports sedan. It will be positioned between the likes of Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic at the lower end and Toyota Camry and Honda Accord at the higher end of the luxury sedan segment.

The A4 and A5 segment has grown by a third to 47,465 units between April and December last year. “The premium segment would bring in significant volumes over the next five years and to maintain our leadership position, we want to establish our presence with Kizashi,” said Pareek. “We are not expecting volumes from the car at the moment. It would provide an option to Maruti Suzuki customers when they choose to upgrade to a luxury sedan. Besides, it would give us an opportunity to understand consumer preferences in the luxury segment.”

Kizashi is powered by a 2.4-litre petrol engine and will be available in both manual and automatic transmission options. The automatic transmission variant is expected to cost around Rs 1 lakh more than the manual one.

In the passenger vehicle segment, MSIL has a market share of around 43 per cent. While MSIL’s earlier attempt to tap into bigger car segment with Baleno did not find much success, the company has been able to make a mark with mid-sized sedans SX4 and Dzire. The company sold 93,331 units of these two cars in the first nine months of this financial year.