Maruti Suzuki is planning to launch two new car brands, Apart from Maruti in India. One of the rumored names are buzzing round the corner could be Nexa. Yes, the same Nexa which currently sells premium Maruti Suzuki cars, could be most likely to become a totally new car brand in itself in coming future. Suzuki, the parent company of Maruti, is still formulating plans to go ahead with its biggest brand overhaul ever since it arrived in India about 35 years ago.
Back in 2015, when Maruti introduced the NEXA set of showrooms, Maruti tried to collaborate a new world with differentiated in-showroom experience to its loyal customers. Buyers were earlier used to purchasing an Rs 3 lakh cars and an Rs 10 lakh car under the same roof, with similar level of infrastructure. However, Maruti planned to bring in a more premium touch to the customer journey by introducing NEXA showrooms which came along with an high end experience.
This execution was initiated along with the launch of S-Cross which initially didn’t do very well as per Maruti standards. However, since the introduction of Baleno, NEXA showrooms have seen some mind-boggling footfall. Ignis too joined the line-up but it was the updated Ciaz which brought in additional set of bumper sales for the NEXA outlets.
But now, as per recent report by Live Mint, Suzuki is taking the Nexa brand to the next level. If the rumors sources are to be believed, Suzuki will launch Nexa branded cars in India. This will be a similar exercise which has been carried out by global brands. For example Toyota has Lexus, Nissan has Infiniti, Hyundai has Kia and so on. So on the same lines MAruti Suzuki is planning on launching Nexa as a premium brand of cars in India.
Actually all the process of restructuring within Maruti Suzuki and revamping of Brand is done to maintain its dominance in the market and sustain in the cut throat competitive Indian Automobile market. Suzuki has laid out plans which will help them maintain their 50% market share in the Indian auto industry. And as per the report, launching two new sub brands is part of that plan. Suzuki may also use Nexa brand to sell the Toyota cars, as per the recent deal between Toyota and Suzuki.
Customer experience via dealerships and branding is sought to be playing a bigger role in influencing buying decision of Indian consumer. During the past 3 years, NEXA showrooms have penetrated to almost all major cities in India. However, during the past few months, Maruti has upgraded its regular dealerships as well and re branded them as Maruti Suzuki Arena dealerships. The Arena dealerships too have brought in a similar level of customer experience as that of the NEXA showrooms.
Even Indian private players in auto industry like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra too have upgraded the infrastructure at their showrooms and sales outlets. To get more advantage and cutting edge in competition, Maruti has also recently initiated on ‘Project V2’ to further upgrade its NEXA showrooms and improve the buying experience for Indian customers.