Maruti to open eight more exclusive Nexa outlets in Gujarat

Ahmedabad

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) today announced the launch of its premium hatchback, Baleno, the first India manufactured car brand of the company to be exported to its parent country Japan, for sales in Gujarat today where the company has the largest overall car market share of around 50% and it plans to increase the number of its exclusive NEXA retail outlets (of which Baleno is a part) from existing seven to 15 by the year end.

Addressing a press conference here on the occasion of the Gujarat launch of Baleno, the second car under its NEXA brand after S-CROSS which was launched in August this year, Mr. Thomas Cheriyan, Commercial Business Head (West and South) said currently the company has only seven NEXA outlets in Gujarat where it was a market leader in car sales with around 50% share. ‘We have 2 such outlets each in Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara and one in Rajkot. By the end of the current fiscal we will open eight more in the state. Overall there are 80 NEXA outlets in 36 cities of the country which would also be increased to over 100 in almost 50 cities by the year end. We have sold on an average four thousand cars per month in NEXA segment (ie S CROSS) since its launch in August this year. The NEXA outlet is completely separate from our normal Maruti sales chain. NEXA cars are for self drive sale only. We would launch the next model in the segment next year ,’ he said.

Talking about Beleno, Mr. Cheriyan said that it was the first India made car of the company which will be exported to Japan the parent country of the company. ‘So far we have exported cars to various countries in Europe and South American companies but never to Japan. It would be for the first time that a car manufactured in India would be exported to Japan. In all Baleno will be exported to around 100 countries. The manufacturing of the export model will begin in December and the first lot will be exported in January next year,’ he said.

Mr. Cheriyan said that of the 17 car manufactures in India only nine have positive sales growth figures currently. ‘ Maruti with 12.7 percent in first half of the current fiscal was way ahead of the average around 6 percent for the car industry,’ he said.

To a query he said that owing to the lessening difference between petrol and diesel prices, the shift towards petrol cars has increased while the diesel car segment has seen a downturn.

– DeshGujarat