Product Strategy & Management (Prof.

Ramesh Venkateswaran)
Group-13, Term-III, PGP-2015-17
Aditya Singhvi (1511155), Chandan Kumar (1511238),
Raja Ratnam Golla (1511042), Soumya Ranjan Sahoo (1511042)

Maruti - NEXA
Topic
The theme of the Term Paper is to study the strategic intent of launching NEXA and how it poses to
rebrand Maruti Suzuki from a Value-for-Money Proposition to premium car buying experience.
Synopsis
Randhir Singh Kalsi, Executive Director of Maruti Suzuki, the largest passenger car company of India,
steps out smilingly from sparkling new premium outlet of NEXA at JP Nagar, Bengaluru, to board his
awaiting car for his return flight to Corporate Office, New Delhi.
Reminiscent of the recent internal reports he garnered, he took a breath of pride to take cognizance
of the fact that 95 stores had been rolled out till December 2015 in only 7 months after launch and
another 100 are in the pipeline. Very complicated sentence. Keeep it simple.
Maruti Suzuki since ages had been identified as a cost leader in its segment. However, with changing
complexity in automobile industry, it shifted its focus on delivering value by enhancing its customer
service, and in early 2012 it realized the only way to stand competitive and spring northwards would
be to differentiate the commoditized utility-car on grounds of customer experience. This para can
come in the main body of the term paper.
As he comfortably reclines in the car, he wonders the success of NEXA for selling 11% of total cars
through the most recent premium dealership outlets. The desire of rising middle class for a worldclass premium customer experience in the last-mile delivery is well addressed by our new poster
boy-NEXA, contemplates Kalsi.
The driver brakes off to avoid a bumper and this puts Mr. Kalsi slightly back in his seat and brings
him to reality. Though NEXA as a concept had generated positive responses, two thoughts crossed
his minds. Is NEXAs value proposition of differentiating the customers point-of-sale experience a
sustainable long-term advantage vis--vis price-sensitive Indian customers and how would NEXA
stand toe-to-toe and outperform other players in this segment.
Kalsi, a tech-savvy individual, who likes to have the pulse of the market in his smartphone browsed
opinions online about NEXA, and was rather dissatisfied to note that it was still not roaring as a
buzzword. Many internet users, assumed NEXA as Maruti s new high-end latest offering in car
segment, while others felt that Maruti s premium offerings (Baleno) is slated to sell at par or below
with other budget cars in such spectacular showrooms.
Kalsi rolled his eyes and thought to himself, I hope our loyal customers are not viewing the offerings
as a case of brand disassociation and dilution. Moreover, NEXA-A New Lifetime experience
advertisement at YouTube, a popular video-sharing website, had failed to generate even 100,000
views and with Facebook-far away from a million likes.
Hyundai, arch rival to Maruti, already believed that it didn't need NEXA-type showroom to sell cars
as there outlets represented international standards.
Gazing outside the window in the rear mirror, he pondered on his three-decade long journey with
Maruti and reflected how he could revolutionize Mass Indian markets to savour premium NEXA, A
New Destination - A New Experience.
Make a more concise problem statement Example wondrered if Nexa would achive the desired
outcome of taking Maruti into the premium segment only through the point of sales dealer
experience. What are the issue relating to branding and brand management connected to product
image and customer experience.
Term Paper Objective
As a group, it would be imperative to study the value change analysis of NEXA. Having shown initial
signs of acceptance, the biggest challenge would be to educate consumers about NEXA and debunk
myths about NEXA as a car and effectively communicate it as the best channel? With NEXA is Maruti
really overwhelming the point-of-sale experience or just catching up to the already premium

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bandwagon of its existing competitors like Hyundai, Toyota & Ford? Moreover, is focussing only on
differentiating customer buying experience will be sufficient enough to change the brand
perception? Should Maruti invest in high-end luxury cars ONLY for NEXA? Logistically, it also need to
be thought of the After-Sale service of cars rolled out of NEXA. Even a pressing issue would be not
to allow NEXA to cannibalise the existing breath of Maruti Suzuki stores. Real issue is how does the
Nexa brand fit in to the scheme of things of the Maruti brand?
The introduction is interesting and attention catching. Make it simple language and structure is
pretty complex right now.
This paper can work out to be a very relevant and contextual case study. Please discuss with me on
how you could go about it.

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