Maruti is preparing for a sedan onslaught in B & C Segments in the coming years

Maruti Suzuki is always known as the small car guru and the company wants its future strategy to revolve around their forte.

Maruti has announced that it will never manufacture a premium vehicle and will be concentrating on small cars since the company believes that India is still a small car loving country. However, in order to cater to the needs of people who are moving up the value chain, MSIL will introduce three new sedans in B and C Segments.

Mr. R. C. Bhargava, Chairman of MSIL told media that, "We will never go to the premium segment. Neither Maruti (MSIL) nor Suzuki (Corporation) will manufacture such cars. Small cars will remain the largest segment in India and our focus is to be a first-class player (market leader) in this segment as that is our bread and butter"

Financial express reports that Maruti is working on three new sedans which will be evenly spread through the car maker's already extensive portfolio. The  first sedan will be a B segment candidate which will sit between the Swift Dzire and the SX4 and is expected to be launched sometime in 2014. The car will borrow most of its components from the Swift.

The second car is an entry D segment which would be slightly upmarket than the current SX4. The sedan is expected to be ready in 2014-2015 and it could even be the successor of the SX4 which has registered a steep decline in sales.

The third sedan will be a sub-four meter car and would be the entry level B Segment sedan which could be based on the next gen A-Star. Apart from these sedans, there is the XA Alpha based mini SUV which will also join the future lineup.

MSIL could easily find takers for the new products but in order make them a reality, the company needs expanded production capacity. Maruti has acquired lands at two locations in Gujarat. An additional 600 acres of land has been added to the originally planned investment of Rs. 4,000 Cr on new plant in Gujarat.

With more and more people graduating from A Segment to B or C Segment, Maruti, as usual seems to have sensed the pulse of Indian car buying mass spot on.

[Source: Thehindubusinessline.com & Financialexpress.com]