Maruti Ertiga launch in India
by new category creation
Badal B. Rath
Badal B. Rath is an
Assistant Professor based
at the Faculty of
Management Studies,
Sri Sri University, Cuttack,
India.
Disclaimer. This case is written
solely for educational purposes
and is not intended to represent
successful or unsuccessful
managerial decision making.
The author/s may have
disguised names; financial and
other recognizable information
to protect confidentiality.
DOI 10.1108/EEMCS-08-2012-0147
Maruti Suzuki and Ertiga, the new LUV
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) was formerly known as Maruti Udyog Limited,
a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan. Maruti Suzuki was a leading car
manufacturer in the Indian market and had its Indian operation since the early 1980s (Maruti
Suzuki, 2013). In India the company had manufacturing facilities at Gurgaon and Manesar,
which were near India’s capital, New Delhi, with a combined capability to produce over a
1.5 million vehicles annually (Maruti Suzuki, 2013). As a part of its expansion strategy Maruti
Suzuki was planning to expand its manufacturing capacity to 1.75 million by 2013. Maruti
Suzuki offered 15 brands and over 150 variants ranging from ‘‘Maruti 800’’ to ‘‘Ertiga’’ the
latest life utility vehicle (LUV) to Indian consumers.
Maruti 800 was the first car launched in the Indian market and was considered a game
changer. As an environmental friendly initiative, in August 2010 Maruti became the first
company in India to introduce factory fitted CNG (Maruti Suzuki, 2013). Factory fitted CNG
options were provided on five models which included the Alto, Estilo, Wagon R and Sx4. As of
2013, Maruti Suzuki held the distinction of being the only company in India to produce
10 million vehicles since it rolled out its first vehicle on 14 December 1983 (Maruti Suzuki,
2013). It had sold over 1.17 million in the year 2012-2013 including 120,388 units of exports.
The company employed over 9,000 people in 31 March 2012 (Maruti Suzuki, 2013). Maruti
Suzuki net sales stood at 426,125 million rupees in the year 2012-2013 a significant rise from
net sales of 347,059 million rupees in the year 2011-2012 (Maruti Suzuki, 2013). Maruti
Suzuki’s sales and service network was the largest and best among the car manufacturers in
India. It had also been continuously rated first for customer satisfaction in the JD Power
Surveys over 12 consecutive years. Maruti Suzuki was also the largest exporter of vehicles
and as of early 2013 its cars were shipped to Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America. Maruti
Suzuki was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange in India
(Maruti Suzuki, 2013).
Maruti Suzuki launched Ertiga, a passenger car, under multi utility vehicle (MUV) for the
Indian market in April 2012. Speaking at the launch, Mr S. Nakanishi, Managing Director and
CEO said:
Ertiga is a major step forward for Maruti Suzuki. Many urban families in India are now looking for a
vehicle that offers more space and flexibility than a sedan, without being bulky, bland and
expensive like a utility vehicle. These families are currently having to compromise and settle for a
vehicle which does not meet their lifestyle needs. The Ertiga is designed for these customers. It is
another example of our ability to pack power, performance, space and features in a compact
package (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012).
The Ertiga brand was derived from an Indonesian dialect word meaning three rows (Deccan
Herald, 2012). Three rows referred to the three rows seating arrangement in the Ertiga car.
When initialed viewed, the Ertiga displayed the distinct utility vehicle (UV) outline, but under
VOL. 3 NO. 6 2013, pp. 1-13, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 1
 the monocoque frame lay the car’s DNA which made the Ertiga special. Ertiga was an
attractive option for customers looking to upgrade to a sedan. Besides, families who had to
earlier settle for UVs now had an option that was stylish, plush, spacious and attractively
priced. The initial test drive reports on Ertiga had complimented its car like ride and handling
capabilities while offering UV-like space, power, performance, and fuel efficiency (Maruti
Suzuki Press Release, 2012). Some of the key features are shown below:
B stylish and contemporary, not huge and overbearing;
B offered flexi-seating to accommodate 5 þ 2 people (2 þ 3 þ 2) and a lot of baggage;
B compact, easy to drive, park and maneuver;
B plush interiors and upscale features;
B high on performance; and
B having set the highest benchmarks across segments on ‘‘lowest cost of ownership’’,
Ertiga simply expanded the experience in terms of fuel efficiency.
B Attractively priced (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012).
Ertiga was placed in a new category called LUVs, a term coined by Maruti. Ertiga was
actually a MUV. MUVs could be used for various purposes. As per Shashank Srivastava,
Chief General Manager (sales and marketing), Maruti Suzuki:
Ertiga will occupy a niche between premium hatchbacks and larger UVs. It is a compact
multi-purpose vehicle what we term a LUV designed to meet the requirements of the urban
consumers who have an active lifestyle (Smartinvestor.business-standard.com 2010).

Ertiga was a seven-seater vehicle with petrol and diesel variants. The petrol version came
with the powerful K-Series portfolio petrol engine (K14B) with a displacement of 1,373cc,
four cylinders, 16 valves, multipoint fuel injection and BSIV emissions norms certified (Maruti
Suzuki, 2012). With the K14B unveiling, Maruti Suzuki strengthened its acclaimed K-series
engine portfolio. K14B was the third engine in the K-series technology introduced by Maruti
Suzuki (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012). The earlier K-series engines K10B and K12M
powered most of the company’s high selling models. K14B carries forward the trusted and
tested attributes of K-series engine technology such as being light weight, high fuel
efficiency, excellent power, low running and maintenance costs, and low noise, vibration and
harshness (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012). The diesel variant was powered by the
highly acclaimed 1,248cc DDiS VGT engine. The diesel version came with a displacement of
1,248 cubic capacity, four cylinders, 16 valves, common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel
technology and BS IV emissions norms certified (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012). The
key features of Ertiga are highlighted in the table and also compared to its nearest rival
Toyota Innova (Table I). The petrol version delivered power of 95 ps at a rate of 6,000 rpm,
whereas diesel variants delivered 90 ps at a rate of 4,000 rpm (Maruti Suzuki, 2012). Ertiga
was launched with a price tag of at Rs 623,000-888,000 (Maruti Suzuki, 2012). It offered
features which were standard across both petrol and diesel variants. Key features available
were: driver and passenger air bags, anti-skid braking systems, low fuel warning, power
steering, AC with heater, front and rear power windows, alloy wheels, fog lamps. All the
above features were not present in all variants but most were usually present in high-end
variants (Maruti Suzuki, 2012).
Ertiga was launched in the Indian market in the MUV segment. There were various
classifications which had been suggested for passenger vehicles but the most accepted
classification was from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (2012) (SIAM).
SIAM classified passenger vehicles by segmenting them on the basis of the length of the
vehicle or on body shape. Overall, as per the SIAM classification, cars were classified into A,
B and SUV segments. The ‘‘A’’ segment was the largest which had sub segments starting
with small cars as A1 segment, A2 (forms the compact class), A3 (midsize) and A4-A6
segments (comprised of car which have a large body, which are basically premium cars).
Examples in these A4-A6 segments are: Corolla, Camry, Mercedes and a few more luxury
class vehicles (Indiamarks, 2012). The ‘‘B’’ segment mostly comprised cars which were for

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PAGE 2 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 3 NO. 6 2013
Table I Comparative features between Ertiga and Innova

Ertiga Innova

Technical specifications
Overall length (mm) 4,275 4,585
Overall width (mm) 1,695 1,760
Overall height (mm) 1,685 1,760
Wheel base (mm) 2,740 2,750
Ground clearance (mm) 185 176
Turning radius (m) 5.2 5.4
Fuel tank capacity (litres) 45 55
Other specifications
Mileage Petrol version: 16 KMPL Petrol version: 10.35 KMPL
Diesel version: 20.7 KMPL Diesel version: 11.17 KMPL
Pricea Petrol version: Rs 5,92,157.99-7,431,58.00 Petrol version: Rs 9,78,220-13,15,023
Diesel version: Rs 7,33,157.99-8,631,58.00 Diesel version: Rs 9,09,702-13,89,308
Seating capacity Seven persons Seven to eight persons
Brakes Front: disc, rear: drum Front: ventilated disc, rear: leading-trailing drum
Steel (L&V grade): 185/65R15 and alloy (Z grade)
Tyres 185/65R15 205/65 R15 tubeless radials
Front: double wishbone, rear: four link with
Suspension Front: MacPherson strut, rear: torsion beam lateral rod
a
Notes: Price shown above are ex-show room price in Indian rupees (Rs); prices are shown for reference purpose to be used in the case;
price range is due to various models which are been offered
Source: Maruti Ertiga (http://www.marutisuzukiertiga.com/) and Toyota India (http://www.toyotabharat.com/cars/new_cars/in_innova/
index.aspx)

multipurpose use. These cars could be used for individuals as well as for commercial
operations. Under the B segment was the B2 segment which included the MUV and multi
purpose vehicle (MPV). Toyota Innova, Xylo, Scorpio, Sumo, Qualis, and the newly launched
Maruti Ertiga fitted into this segment (SIAM). As per the SIAM classification, Maruti Ertiga fell
under the MPV/MUV segment although the Maruti Suzuki had launched this vehicle creating
a new category in between the hatchbacks and MPV/MUV. Sports utility vehicles (SUVs)
consisted of cars like Honda CRVs and the Vitara (Indiamarks, 2012). This class was
especially for people who were adventurous and who preferred to have a car which is tough,
robust and could maneuver across all terrains. In order to drive across difficult terrain, SUVs
had the option of four wheel drive for better on and off road capabilities. While it was not
necessary for a SUV to have a four-wheel drive option but the reverse was also true. Cars
with four-wheel drive option need not be a SUV car. The SUVs were mainly preferred in
difficult terrain like mountains as the power and torque output was usually very high.

Another classification based on body shape was classified as one box, two box, three box,
SUVs, semi notchbacks, estate and station wagon. MUV, as the name suggests could be
used for multiple purposes (Indiamarks, 2012). This class was mainly known for its features
like durability, stability, rugged features, looks, easy maintenance, reliability, heavy duty, etc.
Huge space generally complement the multi utility tag. These vehicles came with more
spacious leg and headroom thus providing more comfort. In India MUVs were mostly used
for long drives and so were also ideally used for commercial purposes for travelling across
the length and breadth of the country. MUVs mostly came with seven to eight seating with
different seating options. These options usually came with three rows of seats, with two or
three seats each: 2-3-2, 2-2-3 or 2-3-3 (front to rear) were the most common seating
configurations. While the Toyota Innova came with a seven and eight seating arrangement,
the Ertiga was designed to carry seven people including the driver in a three seating row
arrangement (2-3-2). Because of its seven-seater capacity it was directly matched and

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VOL. 3 NO. 6 2013 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 3
 compared against seven to eight-seater vehicles (Deccan Herald, 2012). The Ertiga was
positioned in the MUV segment and strong competitors in this segment included Toyota
Innova and Mahindra and Mahindra Xylo (Maruti Suzuki, 2012).

Ertiga for Indian market

Maruti 800 was the first small car to be launched in the Indian market by Maruti Suzuki. This
launch changed the landscape and had been a game changer for the Indian car market.
India had been the market of choice for Maruti Suzuki for launching and testing customer
perceptions for its new vehicles. What was seen as a unique approach for Maruti Suzuki was
the ability to offer new cars which were small, compact but still spacious. India is a mosaic
market which offers huge potential in terms of population size, socio economic and cultural
factors, and revenue and growth. The needs and wants of Indian consumers were many so
there always was an inherent tendency for consumers to ask for products with more features
and attributes. Maruti Suzuki looked at the marketing mix for Indian customers before
launching the Ertiga in India. Ertiga was designed based on the feedback received from
consumers (Smartinvestor.business-standard.com, 2012). Considering the socio cultural
factors, Ertiga was targeted towards the higher middle class income group. This class
aspired to have a high profile lifestyle. Ertiga was segmented and categorized not by car
categorization but by lifestyle segmentation and had been built on consumers’ new-found
need for aspirational living. It was positioned as the car which was not just another vehicle
but a car that was about lifestyle (Campaign India, 2012). Ertiga’s interiors were almost
identical to that of the new Swift Dzire and it looked classy. The only difference was the Ertiga
had a lot of chrome colors used for its interiors as Indians liked the color (Caberz.wordpress.
com, 2012a). Indian roads were highly congested so it was difficult to drive bigger vehicle
like MUVs or sedans. Parking was a major issue and most of the time parking space was not
only limited but also the size of parking lots is small making it practically impossible for
bigger cars to fit into the parking space. Ertiga was designed to be a compact car but also a
seven seated vehicle to accommodate the big size of Indian families (Smartinvestor.
business-standard.com, 2012).
The typical Indian customer psychology while looking for cars is to ask about the mileage.
Mileage and price would be the first variables about any prospective customer car buying
behavior. Ertiga was differentiated from MUVs not only by its size but also by its fuel
efficiency. While its petrol version delivered 16.02 KMPL the diesel version delivers
20.77 KMPL; for its rival brand, Innova, the average mileage was approximately 10 KMPL for
both diesel and petrol version. This gave Ertiga an advantage especially at a time when
petrol and diesel prices were skyrocketing in India (Maruti Suzuki, 2012; Toyotabharat.com,
2013). Due to rising petrol prices, most consumers were preferring diesel variants over
petrol variants. High MUV price was one of the key concerns stopping middle class families
opting for these cars. Maruti Suzuki when introducing new cars in the Indian market priced
its models aggressively to gain early market share. The company had priced Ertiga at Rs
660,000-886,000 ex-show room price (Maruti Suzuki, 2012). This price range was below the
prices that Innova and Xylo offered. Toyota Innova was offered at a base price of Rs 870,000
(Toyotabharat.com, 2013) and Mahindra Xylo’s base price was Rs 744,000 (Mahindra Xylo,
2013). One of the pricing strategies which Maruti Suzuki followed was to offer a price which
was below the MUVs and at a par with regular sedans.
The Maruti Suzuki presence in the MUV segment was limited despite being the overall
market leader in the passenger car market in India with a market share of 40 percent
(BT Online Bureau, 2012). The launch of Ertiga helped Maruti Suzuki for the first time in four
years to regain its market share and volumes. Maruti Suzuki garnered 2.5 percent market
share in passenger car space April-Feb FY13 (The Economic Times, 2013b). Supported by
its newly launched UV Ertiga, Maruti outpaced the market, growing volumes by 5.5 percent
in April-February, when other car makers were struggling on the sales front (The Economic
Times, 2013b). Maruti Suzuki was able to even acquire over 5-6 percent market share in an
intensely competitive market of Mumbai and another 2 percent in national capital region

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PAGE 4 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 3 NO. 6 2013
which includes cities surrounding New Delhi. These two markets made up 20 percent of
India’s auto sales (The Economic Times, 2013b).
Maruti Suzuki was the biggest car maker in India and an established leader in the small car
segment with Maruti 800, Alto and Zen brands. In the mid segment and hatchback again
Maruti Suzuki had the flagship brand Swift, Swift DZire and Sx4. But in the MUV segment,
except for the Gypsy and Grand Vitara, it had no other brands and in luxury cars it had Kizashi
and Vitara. Maruti Suzuki had been successful in the small segment but has never been able
to make a significant impact with a luxury car, whether Kizashi or Vitara. It has not been able to
make an impact beyond Rs 800,000 price tag car (Smartinvestor.business-standard.com,
2010). So, what made Maruti Suzuki enter this segment in recent years? MPVs had emerged
as the fastest growing sub-segment among UVs, showing a growth of around 20 percent from
2009 to 2012 (three-year CAGR). As of 2012, MPVs accounted for around 10 percent share of
the Indian automobile industry (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012). The Maruti Suzuki market
share in the Indian passenger vehicles segment stood at 2,618,000 units which went down to
38.44 percent in 2011 (BT Online Bureau, 2012). Also Maruti Suzuki faced labor unrest and
lock outs for many months resulting in revenue losses and eroding company profits
(The Economic Times, 2013b). Another dampener to the low sales was the high interest
rates and rising fuel prices. Also, the Indian economy was one of the growing economies of
the world. There has been growth in the middle income savings which could help car
purchases by these people provided they were within the affordable range. As per the
statement by Mr S. Nakanishi, Managing Director and CEO at the time of launch:
Ertiga is designed primarily for India at Suzuki, Japan. Ertiga represents aspirations of young
urban Indian families that are active and connected. It also displays Suzuki’s ability to bring
compactness, style and high fuel efficiency to UVs. India is the first market to sell Ertiga, followed
by other South East Asian markets (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012).

Maruti Suzuki has done research earlier in order to focus on this specific niche segment.
Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager (sales and marketing), Maruti Suzuki felt that
there were 15 million people who own vehicles in the India and of these around 10 million
consumers were looking at upgrading their vehicles. So the opportunity was immense. Ertiga
was targeted at urban consumers aged between 30 and 45 years with average income of
Rs 50,000 per month (Smartinvestor.business-standard.com, 2012). The insight which stood
out from the research was to carve out a segment in the niche market of not-so-well-off MUV
buyers with a small budget, a market all other MUV or SUV manufacturers had ignored until
then. Toyota did look at tapping this market by offering a model below its own brand Innova in
2010. But they did not aggressively go ahead since it could lead to a decline in their best seller
Innova. Second, production capacity and the focus on the Etios range of compact cars could
be other reasons for not looking at this segment more seriously (Smartinvestor.business-
standard.com, 2012). The birth of Ertiga was mainly due to the creation of the additional niche
segment which formed the compact MUVs which led to the creation of the LUVs category.
LUVs are more compact than MUVs and yet are easily maneuverable with better fuel
efficiency. Maruti Ertiga was a seven-seater vehicle and priced very competitively among the
MUVs. Ertiga was basically compared to its competitor Toyota Innova. It was expected that
Innova would be the first competitor Ertiga would face in the Indian market. See table which
highlights the key specifications between Ertiga and Innova (Table I). Most of the MUVs came
with a high price tag and Maruti had focused on creating a vehicle which could be offered at a
lower price to Indian consumers targeting the MUVs. What made Maruti Ertiga different was
the LUV category which was in between MUVs and sedans. Ertiga came with a price range
which was quite affordable and was less than the MUVs and sedans which were available in
the Indian market. It was smaller than all other MUVs on the road, but it could still fit seven
passengers quite comfortably (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012).
Maruti Suzuki had been promoting Ertiga aggressively through all promotional media in
India. Maruti Suzuki spent around 65 percent of the budget for a vehicle at the launch or in
the introduction stage. At the time of the Ertiga launch, Maruti Suzuki planned to spend
around Rs 200 million for mass media communications for Ertiga (Wanvari, 2012). Maruti had
planned a multimedia campaign for the Ertiga. This included press advertising; outdoor,

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VOL. 3 NO. 6 2013 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 5
 television and digital. Maruti Suzuki had assigned the promotion campaign to Lowe Lintas
which created the launch campaign for Maruti’s ‘‘LUV’’, the Ertiga (Wanvari, 2012). The
television promotion advertisement shows how the LUV helps a couple enjoy the different
moments in life, right from a Monday morning drive to work, to driving to a leisurely Friday
evening outing with friends. Visuals of the interiors and exterior of the car are aplenty through
the commercial. The film ends with the voice-over introducing the Ertiga as a LUV
(Campaign India, 2012). LUV is termed a ‘‘LUV’’ by Maruti Suzuki while Mahindra terms LUV
a ‘‘leisure utility vehicle’’ (BT Online Bureau, 2012). Maruti Suzuki launched the initial
promotion with the punch line for Ertiga as ‘‘live life with LUV’’. The brand punch line
emphasized the category as well as feeling of living life with love. Most of the promotional
campaigns involved outdoor advertising and electronic medium. Maruti Suzuki was seen
advertising on huge billboards and adverts with the punch line ‘‘live life with LUV’’ (Wanvari,
2012).
Lowe Lintas had aggressively researched the Ertiga campaign theme. Maruti Suzuki briefed
Lowe Lintas and Naveen Gaur, executive director of Lowe Lintas said:
Ertiga was a new and different car, so they have to create a new category in its space. The Ertiga
was a lifestyle car that looks extremely different to any other car in the market currently. So we had
to position it in a way that it brings desirability. The segment epitomizes the youth, as they want a
more exciting car with big space (Campaign India, 2012).

With the past relationships with Maruti Suzuki, Lowe Lintas had a good sense that the Indian
car market had matured and therefore they did not get into any car categorization but
lifestyle categorization, and chose to build on the contemporary need for aspirational living.
It helped position the car as something which is not just another vehicle but a car that’s about
lifestyle. An attitude towards life that defines people for who they are. LUV was born out of
that understanding. A car that allowed people to do all that they wanted to do, all that is
beyond commuting, all that allowed people to enjoy their life. So the advertisement wanted to
reflect on the guy who would buy Ertiga (Campaign India, 2012). Another interesting
promotion campaign was promoting Ertiga through Indian movies. ‘‘Mere Dad Ki Maruti’’
which in English means ‘‘my dad’s Maruti’’, was an Indian movie made by Yash Raj Studios, a
famous film producing house. ‘‘Mere Dad Ki Maruti’’ was promoted by film posters which
had a Maruti Ertiga model car. The movie had Ertiga as its central theme where a salesman
explained the features of Maruti Suzuki’s Ertiga at a swanky showroom to one of the principal
characters who was convinced by the hard sell and bought the car. The youth film division of
Yash Raj Films (YRF) adopted an advertiser funded programming, a common practice in TV
programming, to a new level (Indiaajtak.com, 2013). For Maruti, film promotion was not new
concept as in the past it had launched the top selling Swift in India with YRF’ ‘‘Bunty aur
Babli’’ movie in May 2005. With the launch of Ertiga, the company created a new category of
compact SUVs. Maruti chose Indian cinema as a medium to reach out to customers. Maruti
Suzuki also supported promotion of the film. It bought over 50,000 music CDs of ‘‘Mere Dad
Ki Maruti’’ and distributed them to customers. YRF supported a six-week marketing
campaign, which included 24,000 TV spots, delivering 1,200 GRPs (gross rating points), five
music videos featuring the car across 20 music channels and delivering one million seconds
of airtime. It was also advertised heavily through press ads and billboards and the PR
mileage itself was worth Rs 100 million (Indiaajtak.com, 2013). Some of its unique key selling
propositions for the Ertiga launch included:
B India’s first LUV.
B Expands K-series engine range with K14B debut in India.
B New benchmark among utility (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012).

The road ahead

The UV segment in India grew by over 50 percent in FY13 with sales of close to 553,000
units, making the UV the fastest growing segment. In recent years, MPVs had emerged as
the fastest growing sub-segment among UVs, showing a growth of around 20 percent
(three-year CAGR) (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012). MPVs accounted for around 10

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PAGE 6 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 3 NO. 6 2013
 percent share of the Indian automobile industry in 2012 (Maruti Suzuki Press Release, 2012).
The Ertiga launch in India had set a new trend by creating a new category rather than
offering a similar car in an existing category. Toyota Innova had been the game changer in
the MUV space in India since its launch in 2005. Innova monthly average sales are around
5,000 units (Smartinvestor.business-standard.com, 2012). Toyota had sold approximately
328,000 units of Innova in India since its launch in 2005 (Smartinvestor.business-standard.
com, 2012) so Maruti Suzuki would try to eye the sales numbers of Innova going ahead.
Rivals rushed after Maruti Suzuki to tap the segment with planned launches. Some of the
vehicles likely to enter this segment included the ‘‘Enjoy’’ from General Motors, the ‘‘Evalia’’
from Nissan, and the ‘‘Ecosport’’ from Ford. Enjoy had a more premium look and feel and
also came with an affordable price tag starting at 700,000 ex-showroom. This car, with its
masculine looks and cheap price, could be a serious threat to Ertiga in the coming months
(Caberz.wordpress.com, 2012b). It was also being anticipated that Toyota might also enter
this segment by introducing a version based on the Etios platform. Honda Motors had also
announced its plan to launch two new UVs with a target of selling 200,000 units. This
included an MPV (multi-purpose vehicle), based on the Brio platform, codenamed 2NH,
which was likely to hit the market at the end of 2014 and followed by a compact SUV based
on its Jazz platform in 2015. The MPV would be positioned against Maruti Suzuki’s Ertiga and
Honda had directed its vendors to gear up for annual volumes of 35,000 units (The Economic
Times, 2013a). Another upcoming hot MPV in India would be Nissan Evalia which was
offering a premium feel and at a price lower than that of Innova and the car also has the
advantage of fuel efficiency and sedan-like handling. With the recent success of Sunny
Nissan which has established itself as a spacious, reliable and premium brand in India, the
new MPV could quickly develop a fan base (Caberz.wordpress.com, 2012b).
While Maruti Ertiga was trying to replicate the success of Toyota Innova, Ertiga too had the
elements for success. A price tag suited to Indian customers, fuel efficient engines, compact
size, and flexible second and third row seating which was usually not found in most MUVs.
While MUVs were catering to the rich and super rich class, Maruti Ertiga created a new
category to suit the needs of people who wanted to upgrade to MUVs with a lower price. Like
a leader in every segment Maruti Suzuki would also like to lead this uniquely defined LUV
Keywords: segment. With Ertiga, Maruti Suzuki tried to create a new category by carving out a new
Life utility vehicles, space from the MUVs. The Swift launched in 2005 created an all new segment in India and
Maruti Ertiga, so did the Ertiga in 2012. On the Ertiga launch, Maruti Suzuki commented that they would
Multi utility vehicles, continue to launch products and create new sub-segments in the market to protect and build
New category their market share.

References
BT Online Bureau (2012), ‘‘Maruti Suzuki Ertiga: LUV of a different kind’’, available: http://businesstoday.
intoday.in/story/maruti-suzuki-ertiga-redefines-luv-sales-india-price-features/1/24192.html (accessed
16 November 2012).
Caberz.wordpress.com (2012a), ‘‘Maruti Ertiga review: a mixed bag’’, 6 May, available at: http://caberz.
wordpress.com/2012/05/06/maruti-ertiga-review-a-mixed-bag/ (accessed 14 June 2013).
Caberz.wordpress.com (2012b), ‘‘Toyota Innova MPV competition’’, 11 September, available at: http://
caberz.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/toyota-innova-mpv-competition/ (accessed 14 June 2013).
Campaign India (2012), ‘‘Maruti releases first TV commercial for ‘LUV’ Ertiga’’, available at: http://www.
campaignindia.in/Video/300834,maruti-releases-first-tv-commercial-for-luv-ertiga.aspx (accessed 26
April 2013).
Deccan Herald (2012), ‘‘Dilip Maitra. Maruti Suzuki going gaga over Ertiga’’, available:www.
deccanherald.com/content/242731/maruti-suzuki-going-gaga-over.html (accessed 14 August 2012).
(The) Economic Times (2013a), ‘‘Honda Motor to roll out two new utility vehicles in India aims to sell 2
lakh units’’, The Economic Times, 16 April, available at: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/
2013-04-15/news/38555742_1_hironori-kanayama-honda-cars-india-compact-suv (accessed 24 April
2013).

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 (The) Economic Times (2013b), ‘‘Newly-launched utility vehicle Ertiga helps Maruti to outpace the
market’’, The Economic Times, 3 April, available at: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-
04-03/news/38248346_1_market-share-mayank-pareek-ford-india (accessed 13 June 2013).

Indiaajtak.com (2013), ‘‘Maruti takes in-film branding to next level’’, available at: http://indiaajtak.com/
NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId1¼ 764&title¼ Maruti%20takes%20in-film%20branding%20to%20next%
20level%20&desc¼ Ertiga%20is%20the%20central%20character%20in%20Mere%20Dad%20Ki%
20Maruti (accessed 26 April 2013).
Indiamarks (2012), ‘‘Car segmentation by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’’, available at:
www.indiamarks.com/car-segmentation-society-indian-automobile-manufacturers/ (accessed 16
November 2012).
Maruti Suzuki (2012), ‘‘Ertiga’’, available: www.marutisuzukiertiga.com/ (accessed 16 November 2012).

Maruti Suzuki (2013), ‘‘About Maruti Suzuki’’, available: http://www.marutitruevalue.com/aboutus/

aboutus_msil.aspx (accessed 13 June 2013).
Maruti Suzuki Press Release (2012), ‘‘Maruti Suzuki unveils India’s first life utility vehicle – ‘Ertiga’’’,
6 April, available: http://www.marutisuzuki.com/press-releases-apr6.aspx (accessed 13 June 2013).

Smartinvestor.business-standard.com (2012), ‘‘The smart investor’’, available at: http://smartinvestor.

business-standard.com/market/Marketnews-112497-Marketnewsdet-Ertiga_creates_a_new_category.
htm (accessed 14 June 2013).
Toyotabharat.com (2013), ‘‘Toyota-Innova’’, available at: http://www.toyotabharat.com/cars/new_cars/
in_innova/index.aspx (accessed 13 June 2013).
Wanvari, A. (2012), ‘‘Indiantelevision.com . media, advertising & marketing watch . Maruti Suzuki to
spend Rs 200 mn for Ertiga launch campaign’’, available at: http://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/
headlines/y2k12/apr/aprmam73.php (accessed 14 June 2013).

Further reading
IBNLive (2013), ‘‘Mere Dad Ki Maruti: what an unsubtle brand promotion for Ertiga’’, available at: http://
ibnlive.in.com/news/mere-dad-ki-maruti-what-an-unsubtle-brand-promotion-for-ertiga/379151-8-66.
html (accessed 26 April 2013).
PTI (2012), ‘‘Maruti to launch Ertiga next month’’, available: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/maruti-
ertiga-features-launch/1/23436.html (accessed 16 November 2012).
Uday Gokarn (2012), ‘‘Ertiga – Maruti-Suzuki’s MUV for the not-so-well-off muv buyer on a budget’’,
available: www.cardekho.com/user-review/maruti-ertiga/ertiga-marutisuzukis-muv-for-the-notsowelloff-
muv-buyer-on-a-budget-4842.htm (accessed 12 November 2012).

About the author

Dr Badal B. Rath is MBA and PhD in Business Administration. He is currently working as
Assistant Professor in marketing area for Sri Sri University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. He
has more than ten years of experience in corporate and academics. His areas of interest
include market research, business research, consulting and training. Badal B. Rath can be
contacted at: badalrath@gmail.com

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