Maruti to open 250 Nexa outlet by 2016-17

But according to recent reports, the carmaker has now increased the prices of its vehicle across models by up to 12,000, in order to offset impact of rising costs and weakening of rupee against dollar, joining rivals in making such a move. S Cross, which comes with two engine options- 1.6 litres and 1.3 litres, saw its prices slashed by INR 2 lakh.

“Yes, we have undertaken a price correction in prices of 1.6 litres and since then sales have picked up”. The entire DDiS320 range has faced the same Rs 2.05 lac drop, whereas the DDiS200 faces a price drop of anywhere from Rs 40,000 to Rs 66,000.

Maruti did not reveal the new prices of S-Cross but the 1.3 litre S-Cross was introduced in the range between Rs.8.34 lakh and Rs.10.75 lakh while 1.6 litre variant was priced between Rs.11.99 lakh and Rs.13.74 lakh. It is now available at Rs 9.94 lakh, Rs 10.94 lakh and Rs 11.69 lakh respectively.

Currently, there are close to 100 Nexa dealerships in India and Maruti Suzuki plans to expand this network. Partho Banerjee, Senior Vice President (Marketing & Sales), Nexa Channel, said, “Out of these 15,000 units are from the 1.3 litre variant and the rest from the 1.6 litre variant”. Maruti’s premium compact “Baleno”, within months of launch from a new retail format Nexa, has overtaken Hyundai’s best-seller “Elite i20”.

Powered by sales of Baleno hatchback (another offering under the new network), the Nexa network sold 45,000 units between August and December, which is 10% of the total units sold by Maruti Suzuki in India, the company said.

The vehicle market leader plans to have around 400 Nexa dealerships in the next five years from 150 such outlets it expects to have by the end of this fiscal. Of the consumers who have purchased a product though the Nexa network, as much as 87 per cent of the buyers were either replacing their vehicle or purchasing an additional auto.