Maruti Launches Much Anticipated Entry-Level Car, S-Presso

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Team Industry Outlook | Tuesday, 01 October 2019

The largest carmaker in the country, Maruti Suzuki has finally launched an entry-level car at INR 3.69 lakh to woo first-time buyers. After a long waiting period of a decade, the auto major has come up with an entry-level product that could possibly beat the slowdown prevailing in the automobile industry.

The sales of entry-level cars saw a dip of 56 per cent in the first half of this year. This crash in the sales figure can be attributed to the economic slowdown and the rise in acquisition cost which forced the buyers to turn away from buying a car.

The firm’s newly launched model, S-Presso is the first in the entry-level sector after the 1-litre version of Alto K10 which was released in 2010. Maruti basically rides on the sales of these small cars that led it to be a big player in the Indian automobile market.

Coincidentally, the French automaker is also gearing up for a new refurbished version of Kwid which will have all the features of an SUV and is ready to set its foot in market this Tuesday

Team Industry Outlook

From high seats, flattish hood and a bold stance, Maruti has captured all the features of an SUV in the model and has tried to address the growing popularity of sports utility vehicles among the price-conscious buyers. Carmakers are now highly turning to introduce cheap sport-utilities products in their respective line-ups.

Talking about the new S-Presso, Shahshank Srivastava, the sales and marketing executive director of Maruti Suzuki said, “We wanted to create something new in this segment, a fresh new vehicle for the first-time buyer, keeping in mind the trend that SUV is the fastest-growing segment with almost 27 per cent growth. We are positioning the S-Presso as a mini SUV.”

As with the price mark-up, Maruti’s S-Presso is set to compete with Renault’s Kwid. Coincidentally, the French automaker is also gearing up for a new refurbished version of Kwid which will have all the features of an SUV and is ready to set its foot in market this Tuesday.