Maruti needs to nourish its brands

Maruti needs to nourish its brands

Kizashi might, or might not, be a good product. This review is to vent about how Maruti (mis)treats its premium brands. I was a die-hard Maruti loyalist, as far as their fans go, having started with a Maruti 800 in 1999. I purchased a new Baleno in 2004. Awesome car, loved every aspect of it - performance, comfort, mileage, long drives, city driving - everything. And what did Maruti do? Discontinued this wonderful car one year later... Wait, I am done yet. In 2005, I purchased a new Zen as a second car for the house. Again - this was probably the best in its category, small and powerful. One year later, Maruti discontinued this brand and launched the Zen Estilo - which is not a patch on the older Zen. With a track record like this, does Maruti really - REALLY - expect its premium customers to upgrade to the new Kizashi? I, for one, purchased a Corolla last year. It was a tough decision for me to move away from Maruti, but having driven this car for the last few months, this was the best decision I could make. And, let nobody kid us, no non-Maruti owner is going to plonk down more than Rs. 10 lacs for a Maruti brand, however good the product. Maruti has killed all hopes for Kizashi; the funny thing is they did this 5-6 years ago. A classic case study for brand (mis)management.