Fuel efficiency has been the cornerstone at Maruti Suzuki since its inception, and why not? In a country obsessed with ‘kitna deti hai’, delivering on fuel efficiency has paid rich dividends. Beyond communicating stellar economy figures for each of its products, Maruti even had memorable ads driving home fuel efficiency; remember the cute little kid constantly playing with a toy Maruti and explaining to his dad, ‘papa ki karaan, petrol katham hi nahi hunda.’
But times changed a while ago. Customers want more, and for a significant number of them, things like safety and features pip economy. Maruti, though, had long ignored this, but I’m happy to see the company now pay heed. Take safety. For long, Maruti stuck to the bare requirements, while brands like Mahindra and Tata saw the rising importance, equipped their cars well and got the GNCAP star ratings – the only standard available to grade crashworthiness. Maruti, though, always shunned the organisation and its safety tests, and through official statements too, stating that it did not recognise the body and citing the fact that its cars ‘met the required Indian standards’. Now, it’s actually volunteering its cars for testing at both GNCAP and BNCAP.
Cars like the Victoris, the new Dzire and the Invicto have been sent to the sacrificial altar in search of the coveted 5 stars. No shame in finally acknowledging the growing importance customers place on safety, and like I said, I’m happy that Maruti is finally seeing life beyond fuel efficiency. ADAS, a handy – at times – active safety feature, too, debuts on the Victoris.
Maruti is also seeing the importance of features, something Hyundai and Kia have long realised. Take audio systems. These were always quite popular in the Indian aftermarket with most customers spending good money upgrading their in-car systems with speakers, head units and woofers from brands like Pioneer, Kenwood and JBL. Mass-market brands saw this and began offering premium branded systems; Tata had offered Harman and JBL, Hyundai and Kia had Bose, MG had Infinity, Mahindra had Sony and now Harman/Kardon. Maruti, thankfully, has branded hardware now, with the Victoris coming equipped with Infinity audio. And it’s well kitted out with other goodies, too, like ventilated seats, head-up display and the crowd favourite – panoramic sunroof. Hopefully, this is a sign of Maruti letting go of past assumptions and looking above and beyond fuel efficiency.
