Nexa hit and miss in Maruti Suzuki's strategy of brand differentiation

Nexa's share in Maruti's overall retail mix has been increasing - it was 19.5 per cent in the first 10 months of 2017-18, up from 10.9 per cent for the full year that ended on March 31, 2017

Has Maruti Suzuki's strategy of brand differentiation made its mark beyond volume and dealer profitability to charting an up-market trajectory for its future cars?

To be sure, with regards to selling cars that are priced above Rs 500,000, Maruti has been steadily closing in on rival Hyundai, which boasts of higher sales on account of a larger portfolio of premium car models.

Maruti sold 239,067 cars from its Nexa outlets as compared to Hyundai's 352,886, excluding the entry-level model Eon, in the first 10 months of the current financial year. Nexa's share in Maruti's overall retail mix has been increasing - it