In India, the entry level hatchback car segment is considered as the most competitive market. It was earlier dominated by Maruti Suzuki’s best selling product Alto 800 till its rival Kwid didn’t introduce to the market. Since the launch in 2015, Renault Kwid IS slowly but surely increasing its foot print in the particular segment. The continuously rising popularity of the Kwid hatch among the buyers has finally got Maruti-Suzuki worried thereby it has made up its mind to bring a new generation Alto version to keep possessING its presence in the entry-car space.
After introducing the Kwid in the Indian car segment, sales of the Alto were highly impacted and has been dropped nearly 40 to 48 per cent. Kwid, on the other hand, has managed to secure about 20 per cent segment sales of 40,000-45,000 examples a month. Well, in order to take down such issue, Maruti Suzuki has geared up for bringing a new generation of Alto 800. Codenamed as Y1K, the upcoming version will be based on an exclusive platform and possibly get revealed by festive season of 2019. All the manufacturing and engineering process will be done in India as well.
Also read: Maruti Suzuki Launched MS Dhoni Inspired Special Edition Alto
While an interview with ET, an anonymous person said, "While the company has made strong headway in the premium end of the market with the Baleno, Vitara Brezza and Ciaz, it will never lose sight of its bread-and-butter segment ... as the largest carmaker, Maruti needs to have a solid option for the prospective buyer and Y1K is an initiative on that front.”
"The hardware and technology will come from Suzuki, the putting together of hardware - that is design, engineering and validation will be all done by the Indian team with local inputs” said by a second person. Although, Maruti has lost its grip in the A-car segment, but, it has been expanding the share of its B-Segment, thanks to the all-new Baleno, the long-runner Ciaz and most unique Vitara Brezza. These come into the price range between INR 5 Lakhs to INR 12 Lakhs (Ex-showroom). Later on, Maruti has plans to launch 15 new products by the year of 2020 and a revamped Wagon R and Celerio might be a part of the same.
Source: ET
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