For Maruti, which essentially has been known as a mass-market car manufacturer, setting up the Nexa sales channel was a major initiative.
28 Jul 2016 | 12062 Views | By Autocar Pro News Desk
Maruti Suzuki India has announced that Nexa, its new automotive sales channel to sell its premium car models, has completed its first year of operations.
For Maruti, which essentially has been known as a mass-market car manufacturer, setting up Nexa was a major initiative. In July last year, the company flagged off its premium Nexa showrooms which displayed the all-new S-Cross crossover.
Pampering the car buyer
Maruti says its aim with the Nexa dealerships has been to offer customers a personalised and unique experience when they walk into the showroom. To deliver an upmarket buying experience, the Maruti Nexa dealerships have focused on aspects right from design, lighting and tech used in the showroom, to loyalty programs and rewards for customers. What's beneficial is that customers can take deliveries of their cars from inside the showrooms, and a specialised area has been allotted for this.
In terms of tech, managers at the Nexa outlets have iPads that customers can use to configure their cars. They can browse through models, variants, colours, check out accessories to go along with it, and even have a look at finance schemes. Customers can also download the Nexa Owner’s App — a smartphone application that allows the user to recall service history, emergency support, accessory purchase, event updates, booking and manage service requests. The loyalty programme designed for Nexa customers is called MyNEXA, and it offers rewards through co-branded credit cards and tie-ups with other lifestyle brands.
Nexa sales target: 300,000 cars per annum by 2020
According to Kenichi Ayukawa, MD and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, the opening up of the Nexa retail outlets is in line with the carmaker’s vision to achieve its mid-term goal of 2 million annual sales by 2020.
By the time the S-Cross was launched on August 5, 35-40 Nexa premium retail outlets had sprung up across the country, set up by existing Maruti dealers who made the investments in the infrastructure and processes. Since then, over the next 12 months, the Nexa network has been ramped up to 150 across 94 cities in India and has a strong team of over 3,500 relationship managers.
Maruti Suzuki plans to expand the number of Nexa outlets to 250 by March 2017. The premium sales network is expected to contribute 15% of the carmaker’s company sales by 2020, which translates to 300,000 cars per annum through Nexa.
At present, the cars sold through Nexa are the S-Cross and the Baleno premium hatchback. While the customer response to the S-Cross crossover has been somewhat muted, the striking-looking Baleno has been a runaway success and has given Nexa showrooms plenty of customer footfalls. Till end-June 2016, the S-Cross had sold a total of 28,795 units and the Baleno 71,230 units, which add up to 100,025 units. While the Baleno has averaged sales of 7,914 units a month, the S-Cross has a monthly sales average of 2,399 units.
Commenting on the first anniversary of the premium retail channel, R S Kalsi, executive director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India, said: “Nexa has been created to address the needs of a new and growing segment of Indian customers. These customers are well travelled, digitally savvy and frequently experience five-star hospitality. They value personal touch and pampering in their purchase and ownership experience. Over half (51 percent) of those who bought cars at Nexa were not customers of Maruti Suzuki at that point, indicating that through Nexa, we are able to attract new categories of customers.”
The road ahead
Elaborating on the road ahead for the Nexa network, Kalsi added, “To further enhance the purchase and ownership experience, we plan to provide customers enriching experiences beyond the showroom as well. We will curate new experiences around fashion and lifestyle, music and travel. These experiences will touch the lives of customers through international music festivals, fashion/styling sessions and long-distance drives. Rather than limit ourselves to selling cars, our aim is to forge relationships over the period of ownership.”
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