Maruti Suzuki S-Cross premium aspirations back on track, bags 50,000 units sales

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross, the first car that catapulted the transformation of India's leading automobile company from people to premium carmaker, has turned another gear. Launched in 2015 as 'a premium crossover', S-Cross has bridged 50,000 units of sales in its kitty.

Looking through the returns, Maruti Suzuki's pioneer crossover sold over 46,000 units in the country alone while more than 4,000 units were exported to foreign lands. For S-Cross, the journey on the Indian roads has not been marked with smooth revs. The first amongst models of Maruti Suzuki to go on sale through its Nexa premium dealership, the high price tag proved to be its major undoing.

But this did not deter Maruti from its 'premium' aspirations. Within a few months of its launch in India, Nexa dealerships decided to offer discounts of up to Rs 1 lakh in September 2015. Even better discounts came from dealers in New Delhi with the car going with discounts of up to Rs 3 lakh towards the end of December 2015. Come January 2016, Maruti Suzuki admitted that slow sales of S-Cross were due to its high price tag and to stem the slide, the company officially reduced the prices of the model by up to Rs 2 lakh.

Although S-Cross is still the most expensive offering of Maruti Suzuki, the current price falls within an affordable range compared to its original pricing. Originally priced in the range of Rs 8.34 lakh to Rs 13.74 lakh, the price of the top-end Alpha was brought down to 11.69 lakh by January 2016. S Cross now comes in the price range of Rs 8.79 lakh to Rs 12.03 lakh.

The cut in prices and some rejigs by the automaker has seen the demand of S-Cross move in only one direction - upwards. Citing preference for the higher variants, Maruti also rejigged the variant line-up. S-Cross is now offered in diesel engine options only with two options - 200 DDiS 1.3-litre diesel motor that can churn out 89bhp of power and 200Nm of torque and 320 DDiS 1.6-litre diesel that is tuned to pump out 118bhp and 320Nm of torque.

The 1.6L Delta and Zeta variants of S-Cross are no more part of the premium crossover line-up, while the company continues to sell all three variants of the 1.3-litre diesel engine. The 1.6 litre engine version is currently being offered only in the top-end Alpha 1.6 litres variant.