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MUL may pit WagonR Plus, Ignis against Palio

Partha Ghosh in New Delhi

Domestic car majors are lining up new models in the 'B' segment to take on Fiat's Palio.

After Hyundai said it will bring in the Getz early next year, market leader Maruti Udyog says it is toying with the idea of bringing in either the WagonR Plus, a successful vehicle in Europe sporting a broader body and better features than the Indian WagonR, or a derivative of the Ignis, now available in Japan, within this year.

The company has in the past talked about launching the Ignis in India. But company sources said the new vehicle will be a derivative of the original, which was recently launched in Japan.

The new vehicle, to be priced around Rs 400,000, will have a 1.3 litre or a 1.5 litre engine, taking position directly against the 1.2 litre or 1.6 litre variants of the Palio. It will be also positioned to block all other competition such as the Indica, Santro or the Getz.

Market research for the WagonR Plus and derivatives of the Ignis show that the WagonR Plus may be unviable because of higher costs. Hence, MUL's focus is more on the Ignis or its derivative.

A Maruti Udyog official said the existing B-segment offerings from the company, which come with engine capacity of 1.1 litre cannot be upgraded with higher engines as their body and weight cannot take a more powerful engine.

"Our existing B-segment cars, Zen, WagonR and the Alto, are actually competing against a C-segment car positioned in the B segment," the official said, talking of the competition from Palio. The company has to, therefore, launch a new vehicle.

Maruti will also launch an upgraded version of the Esteem (petrol) within a week and announce the launch of the first diesel version of the C-segment car.

New marketing strategies for B segment cars are also expected next week - new features and price positioning - as also a price cut for the Zen. The official, however, ruled out any price cut for B-segment cars.

The company recently announced a Rs 15,000-18,000 cut in the prices of Maruti 800. It is hoping that the move will translate into volumes, which it has lost in the past three-four months.

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