Ciaz gives Maruti a reason to smile

Girja Shankar Kaura

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 30

Launched in October last, Ciaz, the premium segment sedan brought out by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), has given the country’s largest carmaker all the reasons to smile, establishing the Delhi-based manufacturer finally as a serious player in the segment.

Having failed in the premium sedan segment with its earlier offerings, MSIL had brought out Ciaz with a baited breath, hoping that it would go down well with the buyers.

In just eight months after the launch, it has not only gone down well with the buyers, but the MSIL die-hards have firmly established it as the segment leader in the above four-metre segment, with Ciaz overtaking the Honda City in the first five months this calendar year.

As the month comes to an end, Ciaz has touched the milestone of 100,000 units in the domestic market and the model along with the latest offering from MSIL, “Vitara Brezza” has helped the Suzuki Motor Corp’s (SMC) Indian arm to break the jinx of its earlier unsuccessful experiments with premium segments such as Baleno, SX-4, Kizashi and Grand Vitara. All these products failed to deliver desired volumes.

RS Kalsi, Executive Director (marketing and sales), Maruti Suzuki, said, “Ciaz started out as an outstanding product in terms of looks, features and cabin space. With introduction of Ciaz SHVS and new infotainment features, it has clearly pulled ahead as the best product in its class and customers see it that way. Now of course, Ciaz also comes with AT, it makes it a complete package”.

“There is wider industry significance too as Ciaz, together with S Cross, Baleno and Brezza, has broken the myth that the market leader in the mass segment cannot be the market leader in the premium segments,” he added.

In May, the company sold 5,188 units of Ciaz to dealers in the domestic market, against 3,300 units of Honda City. In April, Honda City sold only 91 units more than Ciaz at 5,793 units. Ciaz has clocked average monthly sales of 5,400 units in the first five months of 2016, against about 5,500 units of City.

Maruti has also managed to ship 18,000 units of Ciaz to export markets since the launch. In September last year, Maruti launched a mild hybrid variant of Ciaz, which also benefitted from lower excise and the government announced cash sops for buyers of hybrid vehicles.