New Delhi: The country's largest carmaker
Maruti Suzuki is mulling to locally assemble its sports
utility vehicle Grand Vitara by next year, as it looks to
bring an advanced version of the SUV to arrest falling sales.
According to industry sources, the company which
currently imports the Grand Vitara from Japan, has already
started the initial process for starting assembly of the SUV,
including talks with component makers for supply of parts.
"The company is seriously considering to bring in an
advanced version of Vitara into India, mainly to arrest the
falling sales of the SUV," a source said.
When contacted, a Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) spokesperson
said, "We do not comment on our future products."
The source, however, said MSI's plans would be dependent
on the market response to the advanced version of the SUV to
be introduced in 2010.
Initially the company would sell the new Vitara as a
completely-built-unit (CBU).
"After witnessing the demand of the vehicle for the first
few months, the company will take a call on assembling it here
in order to reduce the cost," the source said.
Currently CBUs attract over 100 per cent import duty,
making it highly expensive and uncompetitive. Grand Vitara is
available for Rs 16.67-17.97 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) with a
2.4 litre petrol engine in both manual as well as automatic
transmission.
In the recent months, sales of Grand Vitara is falling
drastically. During April-September period, sales of the SUV
fell nearly 70 per cent to just 59 units from 194 units in the
year-ago period, according to Society of Indian Manufacturer
Association.
The company had launched an advanced version of Grand
Vitara in July this year to revive the demand for the model
but failed to do so. In September, sales declined by 53 per
cent to only 9 units as against 19 units in the same month
last year.
MSI's parent Suzuki has sold over 25 lakh units of Grand
Vitara across the worlds since its launch.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 05, 2009, 19:12