With Eeco, Maruti seeks to fill Omni gap

Maruti Suzuki is betting big on the multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) segment, and to make a mark in this space it has launched a family car Eeco— a step forward from its Omni, which with time has become more of a cargo carrier than a passenger vehicle.

Through Eeco, Maruti seeks to fill the gaps left by Omni. I V Rao, managing executive officer (engineering), said there were certain things we could not include in Omni such as air-conditioning and more-than-basic interiors.
“By introducing Eeco, we will see many people upgrading from Omni, so to that extent there will be elementary-level cannibalisation,” Rao said.

Mayank Pareek, executive officer (marketing and sales), said that cannibalisation would be to the extent of 7-8%. Omni sells around 8,000 units a month.

But this is not worrying Maruti as the company has been following the strategy of introducing multiple products in the same segment.

 In the MPV segment for commercial usage so far there is Tata Magic, and during the Auto Expo, the company launched Magic Iris, the upgraded version of Magic, and an MPV, Tata Venture.

Soon, Nissan will also drive in with an MPV codenamed NV200. Pareek said it’s important to be in this segment as it is a growing, “but our attempt is to create a completely new segment which is more of a passenger car than a cargo carrier, which is the case with Magic. So far in the personal MPV category, there are no players.”

He said the company is hopeful of gaining good volumes and stronghold in this segment which was dying down due to Omni fading popularity.
Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki, said, “Eeco performs the twin objectives of being a spacious family car and a dependable vehicle to run businesses.”

Eeco is built on the Versa platform with a new 1.2 litre engine, which is a derivative of the G-series engine and has features of the K-series engine. Rao said it is a fuel-efficient and low-cost derivative of the G- and K-series engines.

But Mahantesh Sabarad, senior analyst, Centrum Broking said Maruti is trying to get a product premium to Omni (Eeco is priced at Rs 60,000 more than Omni) and tap the cab-on-call segment where so far only high-priced sedans exist.

“So far India does not have a low-priced MPV and this is the market Maruti may be trying to capture. But what plays to its disadvantage is that Eeco is available only in petrol variant, whereas a diesel variant is preferred in this segment. I think this product will do well in class A cities and metros, and will find application in the cab-on-call segment,” Sabarad said.

However, Pareek said the product is meant for customers belonging to SEC A/B. Sticking to its strategy of introducing more than one product per segment, Maruti is developing another MPV, RIII, which is 100% India-made, right from design, development and engineering.

Maruti is also developing a compact car which is completely designed, engineered and developed by its India R&D and will be launched in 2012. Rao said that the company is also re-engineering various existing engines.