Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Wednesday launched its much-awaited luxury sedan Kizashi, marking the entry of the largest carmaker into the upper end of the market. Powered by 2.4 litre petrol engine that delivers 178 PS of power, the car will come in two variants — automatic transmission priced at Rs.17.5-lakh and six-speed manual transmission at Rs.16.5-lakh. MSIL is positioning Kizashi as a sports sedan and will be available from next month onwards. Equipped with unique safety and luxury features, the sedan will be manufactured at Suzuki Motor Corporation's Sagara plant in Japan and imported into India as a completely built-up unit (CBU). It offers fuel efficiency of 12.53 km a litre in automatic and 12.45 km a litre in manual transmission. Kizashi can be booked with an initial deposit of Rs.50,000.
“The Kizashi is a major step forward for Maruti Suzuki…we are offering an international car to top-end customers in India. With the launch of this sports sedan, we will keep up the momentum in the market without forgetting the small car market which is our strength,” MSIL Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi told journalists here. After its launch in Japan in late 2009, Kizashi was later introduced in the U.S. According to MSIL Managing Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek, “Kizashi is not about volumes…this sedan will further expand our portfolio in the market. Though such luxury car segment now occupies just 2.8 per cent of the Indian car market, in future we see this going up fast. This launch is in preparation for the future.” MSIL was going to adopt a personalised marketing strategy to sell the sports sedan, he added.
Referring to the unrest in Egypt, Mr. Pareek said MSIL's exports to the Arab nation, which account for 3 per cent of its overseas sales, would be impacted. Last fiscal, MSIL had total exports of 1.47 lakh units. It is also facing challenge in its exports mainly due to a decline in demand from Europe, which is its major market.
