Nexa Showroom: An Analysis of Consumers Perception towards its Premier Image in Bengaluru

Abstract

Maruti Suzuki‘s image of affordable ―people‘s car‖ manufacturer which propelled it to the top position as India‘s largest carmaker, turned out to be a bane for their higher priced models. It launched a number of high-end vehicles with little or no success. The company made several different attempts to enter the high end market. All those endeavours did not yield the expected results. In a one more fresh try to succeed in the luxury segment, by managing its distribution in a new way, in July 2015 Maruti launched Nexa the premium showrooms to sell their high-end cars. Since then several articles have been written about Nexa, its strategy and how it is different from other Maruti Showrooms. It is now more than three years and one would be interested in knowing its status. This paper investigates the impact of Nexa showrooms on the perceptions of the Bengaluru consumers. Has it succeeded in its attempt to change the perceptions positively? Data was collected from the customers visiting the showrooms from different parts of the city and it was analysed using R. The results show that the perception of the company as ―people‘s car‖ manufacturer is giving in though it has long way to go