"Could have also launched new Maruti Swift before Dzire," says MSIL's CV Raman

25/05/2017 - 11:41 Maruti Dzire, Maruti Suzuki Aravind Jayachandran

New Swift expected to arrive in early 2018.

Speaking to IndianAutosBlog at the launch of the new Dzire, Maruti Suzuki's engineering boss Mr CV Raman has stated that the company could've launched the new Maruti Swift before the Dzire.

2017 Maruti Dzire (3rd gen) front quarter launch — Maruti is observing the top-down strategy with the new Swift family, and ensuring that a decline in the sub-4m segment does not hit Dzire sales.

Mr Raman told us:

We have a product plan and we have certain internal strategies because of which we make certain decisions, so it was decided that we will do the Dzire first and the hatchback later. We could have done either.

We reckon one of the reasons why the Dzire came before the hatchback is likely attributed to the strong brand image of the 'Dzire' nameplate in India, which also explains why Maruti dropped the 'Swift' name and adopted a more distinctive styling for the third generation car. The previous car was one of the best selling sedans in India that commands a 50 percent share of the sub-4m sedan segment. Another reason is that this segment witnessed a decline for the first time in 7 years last year, and a refurbished model would restimulate buyer interest.

2017 Suzuki Swift (2017 Maruti Swift) front three quarter grey Geneva Live — Following the start of production in October, the new Swift is expected in showrooms in early 2018.

Also Read: 2017 Maruti S-Cross (facelift) to go on sale around Diwali – Report

The new Dzire is priced between INR 5.45 Lakhs – INR 9.41 Lakhs (ex-showroom), available in four grades: L, V, Z, Z+ that is spread across 14 variants. Engine options include a 1.2-litre four-cylinder VVT petrol engine and 1.3-litre four-cylinder DDiS turbodiesel engine, respectively. Both variants can be had with a 5-speed manual or 5-speed AGS (AMT) and can average a fuel mileage of 22 km/l (petrol) and 28.4 km/l (diesel).