Swift to not affect sales of other MUL cars

Maruti Udyog (MUL) today said it does not see much "cannibalisation" of some of the models from its own stable by its newly launched B-plus hatch Swift.

"Cannibalisation should not be so much", Kinji Saito, director (marketing and sales), MUL, said today at the launch of the Swift model, which at Rs 3.85 lakh (ex-showroom) for its base model in Bangalore is in the price range of some variants of Zen and Wagon R.

He said swift was "quite different" from other models and
it was a "different kind of product for a different kind of
customer".

Admitting that a similar range of products could be affected from its stable, he, however, maintained that cannibalisation should not be "so much" and the company could attract more customers for similar price models of its competitors.

He said the response to Swift had been "quite encouraging" and for "better volume than expected".

Asked if MUL planned to phase out Maruti-800, he said it
still was selling 7,000 to 8,000 units a month and "We will
continue the model as long as the customers want it".

Asked if the company would do away with Zen and Esteem, he said both had been modified and "Till the customers' need continue, we will have to provide it".

To a query, he said the company did not see "big volume" for exports of Swift from India, except to neighbouring countries like Bangaladesh and Sri Lanka, as Suzuki had plants in Japan, Hungary and China which would cover their respective areas.