NEW DELHI: It may be SUV season in the auto industry, but that has not kept some of the companies from focusing on sedans, despite near-muted performance of the category.
Maruti, the country’s largest carmaker, drove in the new Dzire sedan earlier this month with a highly-upgraded version, looking to gain numbers with the new model. “This is not just an upgrade, but we have added all new features including six airbags and a five-star safety rating to make it as good as it can get,” Maruti MD & CEO Hisashi Takeuchi says, adding that sedans should not be left behind in modernisation in the age of SUVs.
Honda, which has generally been a sedan-focused company (for long the City has been its best-seller), has invested heavily in its Amaze entry sedan, which has been upgraded “just for the Indian market”, says company VP Kunal Behl. “While SUVs are surely the flavour of the season, the real feel of a car still comes from a three-box sedan and there are many customers who want them. Also, many are ditching the hatchbacks for feature- and design-rich sedans,” Behl adds.
Despite share of sedans shrinking from 20% of the car market to 9% now, VW and Skoda too have entered the market with twin sedans (VW’s Virtus and Skoda Slavia. The cars have a high ground clearance of around 180mm to keep them at par with some of the entry SUVs.
And it’s not just the mainstream carmakers, which are still in love with sedans. Mercedes-Benz recently unveiled new generation of its E-Class sedan, which is not just the largest-selling car in its portfolio, but also across the luxury industry’s line-up. Sedans still contribute 45% to Mercedes’ India business, MD & CEO Santosh Iyer said.
Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer for sales & marketing at Maruti, said “sedans have their own standing” in the market.
