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Ertiga Emerges As Maruti Suzuki's Latest Headache
The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga was considered as a huge risk by many skeptics when the leading Indian carmaker had just unveiled it in its concept form called RIII. Many people said the RIII was a desperate attempt by Maruti to break away from its shell of being a small car specialist. With its plans to enter the premium car segment failing with the Kizashi, an MPV from Maruti Suzuki appeared to be a bigger risk.
Maruti Suzuki's LUV - Life Utility Vehicle - Ertiga has now proved all skeptics wrong by becoming a resounding success. In fact it can now be considered as Maruti's best selling car in the two months since its launch considering it has received more than 40,000 bookings so far. The Ertiga's success has encouraged other carmakers to follow the LUV with their own MPVs within its price range.
The Eriga has not only managed to outsell established MPVs such as the Toyota Innova and the Mahindra Xylo. There is a positive buzz around the Ertiga and it is one of the few cars from Maruti Suzuki that still has a waiting period of more than six months.
The Ertiga's waiting period has now emerged as Maruti Suzuki's biggest headache in recent times. Continuing with the trend of diesel cars dominating the scene, Maruti Suzuki has stated than 90% of the Ertiga's bookings are for the diesel variants. Maruti is struggling to match the demand for diesel cars and hence the Ertiga's waiting period has overtook even the Swift, waiting period.
Maruti Suzuki had to face a similar situation when it launched the new Swift last year. The huge demand followed by three long strikes had severely affected the Swift's production. The carmaker has slowly managed to bring the Swift's waiting period to manageable levels in recent days. While Maruti Suzuki could say the strike was the reason for the Swift's long waiting period, it does not have a proper reason to justify the Ertiga's waiting period.
What Makes The Ertiga special is a question ringing in the minds of many auto experts. The answer lies in the fact that the Ertiga despite its big car image and high seating capacity remains true to Maruti Suzuki's core qualities of high fuel economy, low maintenance and durability.
As we said earlier, other carmakers such as Hyundai, General Motors and Nissan are also planning to launch MPVS to compete with the Ertiga. With the possibility of diesel cars attracting more taxes in the coming months, the Ertiga has got a definite head start.
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