Maruti Suzuki WagonR has always been a promising Hatchback car for the leading auto major in the Indian car segment. This tall-boy hatch has its own set of admirers since its launch as the designing is simple with minimalistic jewels. Maruti Suzuki has always kept WagonR in the race with upgrades and facelifts, which were well received by the niche class audience that this hatch appeals to.
Maruti Suzuki WagonR ‘Stingray’: A perfect ’10’
Maruti Suzuki has always been able to read the Indian audience’s needs and its series of models depict that understanding. Maruti Suzuki WagonR model was built to make the ingress easy and seating area comfortable for people who are tall and well-built; most other hatchbacks sit too low and the headspace is way less.
Maruti Suzuki India WagonR has been amongst the top ten hatchbacks sold in India, garnering decent sales figure for the brand all year around by selling 12K units a month. However, with the petrol price hike, WagonR lost its sheen due to the lack of diesel variants and that’s when the diesel-powered hatchbacks started gaining ground. Apart from the regular petrol version, Maruti Suzuki offers petrol-LPG and petrol-CNG dual fuel options with WagonR.
The competition intensified with Hyundai becoming aggressive in the market, and started taking over the market with its diesel run vehicles. The South Korean auto major have some big plans which includes taking over the numero uno position in the Indian market. Hyundai recently introduced the latest Hyundai Grand i10 which sits between Hyundai i10 and i20. From brand Maruti Suzuki, the direct competition of the model is Swift but as Maruti had not added new features to the already good package of the Swift, the company rendered an all new variant to Wagon R christened, Wagon R Stingray which is expected to build momentum before Maruti Suzuki launches the counter to Hyundai’s Grand i10.
The Stingray concept was showcased at the Tokyo Salon Show held earlier this year along with the RR concept and both are meant to develop on the Wagon R hatch. The WagonR wins brownie points with its tall boy styling, 60:40 seat split feature and the easy ingress and egress from which the Stingray definitely benefited. The styling is different and got more aggressive with new add-ons and brought an edge to competition with technology and smartness that appeals to the youth who have earlier refrained from buying the Wagon R model because of its boxy appeal and regular looks. Maruti Suzuki WagonR Stingray made sure it stung competition!
Brand Maruti was not content as the festive season is approaching and wanted all the limelight. So, the company launched the Wagon R Madhavan Signature Edition and just weeks later, introduced Wagon R Stingray to compell the market to sit up and take note. Maruti Suzuki Signature Edition WagonR, which is a special edition as the name suggests, is dedicated to Bollywood?s actor R Madhavan who also happens to be the brand ambassador of the model. The dedication model seems to be inspired by the changes that the celebrity wanted to see in his own WagonR.
The changes in the Madhavan Signature WagonR includes Faux Leather covers for seats and steering wheel, Bluetooth kit, full wheel covers, 2 din Kenwood music system, fully digital display that comes with USB support and Aux-in compatibility in the interiors. The changes in the exteriors are limited to Rear Roof Spoiler and rear parking sensors apart from the signature graphics of R Madhavan.
The R Madhavan signature edition WagonR will be available for sale soon and the company claims that the additional accessory being offered with the new limited variant are going to cost the company about Rs.32,000. In the tortoise pacing Indian auto market, the Indo-Japanese company wants to increase sales volume and enhance its market share by offering some discount schemes also. The R Madhavan special edition buyers need not pay all the additional amount of Rs 32,000, the buyers can pay just Rs 20,000 as the company has lowered the price in order to lure buyers. Not just that; Maruti has also come up with a 0.5% discount scheme in interest rate for people who opt for finance option to grab the Wagon R. With the increasing competitiveness in the auto industry, Maruti Suzuki seems to have accelerated against competition and the sales figures of WagonR are sure to go up and Hyundai Grand i10 is a response to the unquestioned reign of Maruti Suzuki Swift.
CarDekho.com
