'Suzuki will introduce diesel cars soon'

CG Automobiles, the sole authorized distributor of Suzuki four-wheelers for Nepal, has announced that it will be raising prices of all Suzuki automobiles from July 16. Kriti Bhuju of Republica caught up with Karan Chaudhary, executive director of CG Automobiles, to discuss the company´s sales strategies, its performance this fiscal year and plans for the next fiscal year. Excerpts: You have recently launched ´Suzuki Pre-budget Offer´ and said prices of all Suzuki vehicles will go up from July 16. How much more will customers have to pay to purchase Suzuki vehicles? Prices of Suzuki vehicles have already gone up in India. But to provide an option to potential buyers and let them make a decision prior to price hike comes into effect, we have introduce ´Suzuki Pre-budget Offer´. The prices of vehicles will increase in the range of Rs 10,000 to Rs 100,000 depending on the model. The current fiscal year has almost come to an end. How did Suzuki fare this fiscal year? We saw a phenomenal growth this fiscal year. Our sales grew by 40 to 45 percent this fiscal year compared to the previous one. Considering the growth of 25 to 30 percent witnessed by the four-wheeler market in the country, we call our achievement a feat. We hope sales will grow further in the next fiscal year as the announcement of election date has been viewed positively by the automobile market as well. Currently, most of the automobile dealers are focusing on bringing in diesel cars. But it appears Suzuki has not shown interest in this regard. We brought few diesel cars two years ago but passengers did not show interest in such vehicles. But now more customers are inclined toward owning diesel vehicles because of low cost of fuel. We are planning to introduce diesel cars in 2014. What can customers expect from Suzuki in the upcoming fiscal year? As I said, we will be introducing diesel cars in the next fiscal year. Besides, we will be launching upgraded version of Alto K 10 and an SUV in the year. As we are also the authorized dealer of TVS, we will be introducing Phoenix within few months and focusing much in scooters this year. As Dashain is the time when vehicle sales boom, have you started designing plans for the festive season? Dashain definitely is a time when sales increase by multi-fold. We have always been introducing special offers on different occasions as we believe customers should be given back something in return for the support they have shown. Hence during this Dashain as well we plan to give back something big to customers. What will be your marketing strategy for the coming fiscal year? Suzuki has always been about ´trust and belief´. We always try our best to give good service to customers. Besides, we believe in strengthening relationship with our customers rather than just selling vehicles. So, in the upcoming fiscal year too, we will be focusing on meeting customers´ needs.