New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki unveiled the new WagonR on Friday. It’s not new to Maruti, but now it seems to have mastered the art—cost cutting, synergies and economies of scale.

That’s why the company decided to invest in reworking the latest generation of the WagonR hatchback in Japan to suit Indian conditions.

The new WagonR has been launched at between Rs 3.28 lakh to Rs 3.81 lakh, which is just about Rs 7000 more than the outgoing model.

Maruti has invested Rs 290 crore in the car while its suppliers have put in an additional Rs 300 crore.

Maruti sources insist the margins are intact and in fact expect that the margins on WagonR may actually increase.

What helps is that the car shares components and engines with the Estilo and A-Star.

Mayank Pareek, executive officer of Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, “Cost cutting is a mantra with Maruti and that is why we have been able to launch Rico at such a low price and are offering WagonR at this price considering the investment."

The WagonR has been in India since December 1999 and the over 10 year old model was in dire need of replacement.

But the car was still the third highest selling car in India last year with sales of 145,000 units and so there was no question of phasing out the model line.

Shinzo Nakanishi, MD and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, "We hope to sell the same number of units as we sold with the previous model."

Meanwhile, the country's largest carmaker is now readying its strategy for the next launch, which is likely in the midsize sedan space in the form of the Kizashi.

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