S. Muralidhar

Chennai , Aug. 5

IS the Suzuki Swift's excessive popularity hurting the sales of the car? That sounds like a oxymoron, but the open letter published in a few of the country's leading dailies from Mr Jagdish Khattar, Managing Director of Maruti Udyog, seemed to indicate just that.

The letter addressed to potential customers of the Swift almost acknowledges the issue with its opening sentence - `Your response to the Swift has overwhelmed us.' The trigger for the open letter from Maruti seems to be the increasing unease among potential customers who have booked and paid the advance money for the Suzuki Swift, but have been told that the cars will be delivered only over the next few months.

Maruti's official spokesperson acknowledges that the waiting period for the new Suzuki Swift is a high eight to 12 weeks in the case of the top-end ZXi variant of the car. But, the waiting period for the lower trim — LXi and VXi — variants are lower and range from about three to six weeks.

But, officials at the company's dealerships claim that the waiting period is lower only for those who booked the car within the July 8 deadline, when the prices were lower. After that date, Maruti withdrew its invitation pricing policy for the car and had raised prices marginally.

So, while the customers who booked their Swift within this date are being given preference, the others may have to wait it out until the previous set of bookings are exhausted, which could mean that deliveries may take up to four months in some cases.

The unprecedented move (for Maruti) of issuing an open letter could perhaps be due to the worry that customers will be unwilling to wait, and, hence, may opt to buy other car models. Dealers confirm that there have been cancellations of bookings by customers, and, in other cases, the big waiting period has led to customers choosing other Maruti models. Further, officials at the dealerships also point out that customers are unwilling to book the car now and take delivery in November or December by when demand for the year 2006 model would have already begun.

The Suzuki Swift was launched in the last week of May. While Maruti has already sold about 14,000 units of the car, bookings (pending deliveries) are expected to be about 12,000 units.

The reason for the slower arrivals of the car at the company's dealerships boils down to production and logistical constraints, according to company officials. Co-ordinating component supplies and the car's assembly during the initial period post-launch is always an issue for a new model.

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