Eeco: Maruti Suzuki's New Year gift

With the Versa laid to rest, Maruti Suzuki is ready with another van option called the Eeco that can seat five to seven people.

Set to be unveiled at the Auto Expo in New Delhi, it is likely to be priced below Rs 400,000, and will come with air-conditioning and the option to choose from six colours.

The Eeco would become Maruti Suzuki's second car after the Omni in what it calls the C-segment. "The segment is of interest to us because it has posted consistent growth over the years (CAGR of 12 to 14 per cent over the last five to six years)," says Maruti Suzuki Chief General Manager (marketing) Shashank Srivastava.

The company found that Omni owners often replace their vehicle with another Omni rather than upgrade to another model. Srivastava claims a market for 6,000 to 8,000 such vehicles per month. This is where the Eeco fits in.

Maruti Suzuki has not had a smooth run with its vans. As a passenger car, the Omni is now mostly relegated to lower-tier towns and semi-urban areas. In urban markets, it is used as a taxi or load-carrier.

The Versa, Srivastava points out, did not meet the needs of the market for such a car, which led to its phase-out. "We had positioned the Versa as offering luxury only to realise that the buying criteria of the audience were quite different," he adds.

With the Eeco, Maruti Suzuki wants to set things right, the overruling criterion being affordability (its name derives from economical). It will be positioned as an upgrade from the Omni in the urban markets - value for money (with low cost of ownership), more spacious, creature comforts such as AC and a more powerful engine (73 bhp in contrast to the Omni's 30 bhp). Its 1,200-cc engine is smaller than the Versa's 1,300-cc engine, but is more efficient.

Even the transmission and suspension are different - enough to silence sceptics who say that the Eeco is merely the Versa with a facelift. "However, by way of looks, the category of vans does not leave much scope to alter the boxy look, though you can maximise space," says Srivastava.

But the Eeco could face competition soon, that too from unlikely rivals. Sub-one tonne truck-makers such as Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra have plans to come out with passenger versions of their load-carrying vehicles. These could snatch the Eeco's market in the commercial space.

"Such vehicles would appeal to commercial drivers who are willing to compromise on passenger comfort during travel. However, the Eeco could become stronger in the long run with taxi drivers concerned more about comforts such as an AC in their vehicle," says Srivastava.

Maruti is not banking on just upgrades from the Omni. "There are consumers from the A2 segment (small cars such as the Zen Estilo and Santro) who will opt for the Eeco because of the capacity and comforts it provides at the given price," points out Srivastava. Maruti Suzuki is hopeful that consumers who look for space but do not want to shell out large sums to buy a Toyota Innova or an SUV might opt for the Eeco.

Will the Eeco's features such as air-conditioning and a refined engine cut ice in rural areas? Since it has not done well with its previous urban van, the company is keeping its fingers crossed.