It's been over two months since the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz moved to the Nexa channel. It was a part of the company's strategy to enhance the premium quotient of the Ciaz sedan which was already at the top position of its segment. While it might be a little too soon to comment on whether the strategy has, in fact, worked for the company or not, judging by the Ciaz's performance in the last two months, Maruti Suzuki sure seems to be on the right track. The Ciaz officially became a Nexa product from the 31st of March 2017 and in April Maruti Suzuki India sold 7024 units of the car, a personal best for the Ciaz in the last six months.
Subsequently, the company sold over 4700 units of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz in the month of May 2017, which despite the considerable drop kept the car at the top spot. In comparison, the company sold 5,702 units of the Ciaz in April 2016 and 5,012 units in May 2016, showing a consistent average of 5000 units per month. In fact, the sales numbers were pretty similar to the current numbers even before the move to Nexa. In February 2017 the company sold 5,886 units of the Ciaz and in March 4,918.
This is really commendable considering there are just a little over 200 Nexa showrooms in India compared to the 1500+ Maruti Suzuki showrooms. Interestingly, a company spokesperson told us that after its shift to Nexa, demand for the top-end Alpha variants (both petrol and diesel) have considerably increased. Earlier they were known as the ZXi and ZDi variants.Compared to it, the Ciaz's closest competitor and previous market leader, Honda City, sold 5,948 units and 4,046 units in April and May 2017 respectively.
Despite its shift to Nexa, both visually and mechanically, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz remained unchanged. In fact, the only mentionable addition apart from the new variant names was the inclusion of the new Nexa Blue colour option. The existing colours - brown, dark red, white, black, grey and silver, are also still on offer. The car continues to be powered by the same 91 bhp, 1.4-litre petrol engine and the tried and tested 88 bhp, 1.3-litre DDiS oil burner with SHVS technology. 5-speed manual gearbox comes as standard with both the engines along with the option of a 4-speed torque converter for the petrol trim only.
So has the move to Nexa really helped the Ciaz? Well so far things have been looking pretty positive but we will have to wait a few more months to see the actual effect of this shift from Maruti Suzuki to Nexa.
