Pak Suzuki Heavily Advertising Kizashi – Is There a Future?
Calling Kizashi a jewel in the crown of Pak Suzuki should not be an overstatement, available at a steep price tag of PKR 5 million, it is by far the most expensive and the most premium Suzuki available in Pakistan since the one in at no. 2 is Hayabusa at PKR 2.6 million. Kizashi was launched in our market last year, and since then it has found little in fact; no success!
Another Obsolete Suzuki Exclusively for Pakistan’s Market!
That’s right, Pak Suzuki continues to advertise Kizashi as a state of the art modern day sedan while in reality it is a globally discontinued car. It was abandoned by Suzuki in 2014 just four years after it went into production worldwide. To name a few, Suzuki’s exit from the U.S, global financial crisis, lack of engine options leading to poor fuel economy all resulted in Kizashi’s global failure.
Have a Look: Suzuki Kizashi Officially Launched in Pakistan
What’s more, Pakistan is now the only country in the whole world where Kizashi is being sold officially by Suzuki as its global discontinuation in 2014 means it was already obsolete when Pak Suzuki proudly introduced it to Pakistan’s market by holding a glamorous event at a hotel in Lahore.
Also Read: Why Suzuki Will Fail To Sell Kizashi In Pakistan
To make up for the exclusivity of Pak Suzuki in the case of Kizashi, Wikipedia, one of the world’s most popular wikis, has added a separate entry under the production years of Kizashi, especially for Pak Suzuki.
What is the reason for Suzuki Kizashi’s failure in Pakistan?
While many reasons contribute to Kizashi’s failure in Pakistan, the core reason remains its price. The high price of Kizashi is largely because of the fact that Suzuki imports it as a Completely Built Unit (CBU) instead of importing its CKD and assembling it in Pakistan. CBU imports are heavily taxed and bear over 100% duty. Some may argue that Audi A4 priced at PKR 5,800,000 and Audi A3 available for just PKR 3,850,000 are also CBU imports instead of that Audi has been able to offer competitive pricing. The lower prices of both the Audis mentioned is because of their low displacement engines. Our duty and tax structure variates with the engine displacement of the car imported, and since Kizashi comes with a massive 2,400cc engine, it is subjected to way more taxes than Audi A4 and A3. This explanation also fits perfectly to the odd pricing of both Toyota Camry and Honda Accord in Pakistan both of which come with 2400cc engines as well and bear price tags twice to that of Kizashi.
Read More: So Who Is Going To Buy The ‘Supreme Kizashi’?
So Why is Pak Suzuki Promoting a both Failed and Obsolete Car in Pakistan?
By now you would have probably watched Pak Suzuki’s new Brand Music Video/TV commercial, remember “the one with all the inappropriate Kizashi drifting”? The star of the two-minute long film was undoubtedly Kizashi whose shots composed much of the video. The uncanny timing of Pak Suzuki’s TVC with Honda Civic‘s launch in Pakistan opened up the rumor mill on the social media as many car followers started to create links between Suzuki’s TVC and a possible Kizashi’s production in Pakistan which could bring its price down to compete with Honda Civic. In addition to Suzuki’s brand video, Kizashi has been making successive appearances on Suzuki Pakistan’s official Twitter and Facebook feeds.
Have a Look: Pak Suzuki TVC – Did they Forget to Show their Best Sellers?
Well with all the history lessons and evidence presented in this article, now you probably know for sure that Suzuki is least bothered to give Kizashi another shot anywhere in the world, and since Pakistan is not a premium market, Kizashi’s production in our country seems uncertain, to say the least.
The Suzuki Kizashi with its high definition design depicts luxury & precision. #SuzukiPakistan pic.twitter.com/gHK97cV1MF
— Suzuki Pakistan (@SuzukiPakistan) January 28, 2016
All Pak Suzuki looks to achieve from advertising Kizashi is to market itself as a premium brand in Pakistan which would in return help bolster the sales of its cars like Wagon R and Swift who compete with Japanese cars from brands perceived as more “premium” than them!
5m for a Suzuki are way too much is the first thing that comes to our mind because of our mindset. Even the new Civic caused a stir due to it being priced in the 3m category so why would anyone even think of buying a Kizashi. I’d obviously go for an Audi or sth
A Glimpse of P.Suzuki Marketing Dept.
Mein Sadkay Jawaa!! 😀
Dear P.S., You can learn In Below the thoughts of Every customer who has 5,000,000 or Even Less than 5 Million PKR
Over priced
PakSuzuki had no heart in the launch. It was also covered on PW Blog, you read the archives.
Unlike other countries where a lot of choice is available, people in Pakistan are born in a Suzuki and die in a Suzuki, albeit they work hard to improve, like people who went to school in a Mehran go to office in a Cultus or Baleno.
Suzuki is one of the sole suppliers who cater to every segment in the market. PakSuzuki have the largest lineup of locally assembled and imported cars, and their volume of sales is also the greatest. Years before the launch of Kizashi, the world speculated that it would be a failure because Suzuki brand will not appeal to luxury car buyers, but the reason of its failure in Pakistan is different.
Pakistani consumer’s behaviour is different from international market (the market is also different) and things which do not happen in other countries can easily happen here, there is a reason why Sigma Motors is able to sell Range Rovers and the same households also have Mehrans parked in their garage.
And in Pakistan, PakSuzuki has multiple brand values, one of their brand value is of loading vehicles such as Ravi and Bolan, another is of obsolete cheapos like Mehran, yet another is Cultus of self-respecting people, yet another is Potohar and Jimny, the construction subcontractors and police forces, yet another is Swift, a mostly modern offering. Of course when people see Swift they do not think of Mehran, and that is where I say Suzuki has multiple levels of brand image in this market.
In Pakistan where Cultus (Geo Metro) is seen as an executive car, and companies give it to their CEOs as a job perk, (not as a tool of getting the work done), and Corolla is seen as the uber-luxury ride of businessmen, Kizashi had a lot of potential, had Suzuki taken care how to go about it. They could just have fit it with an 1800cc and sold the heck out of it.
In fact even now if PakSuzuki put an 1800cc in it, drivers won’t feel it is underpowered, yet it would become comparable to Civic X (price) and they can make a killing since it is imported the build quality would be better, or even if manufactured locally and the build quality is equal to Swift. Pakistani audiences prefer to have a car that looks good and has easy maintenance, and good means its cuts and lines are not awkward-shaped like Liana or Santro. And Kizashi has it.
But PakSuzuki has always been keen on selling Mehran and Bolan, and they did not focus on those offerings which people really like, such as Swift. Read my first line.
it they cut down its price by 2million and bring the price to atleast 3 million. That might do some for Kazashi. Keeping in mind that 3.0million is also a hefty price for a Suzuki badge. Suzuki what are you thinking?
what is going here ?
Kizakshi’s prosecution stopped in late 2013 in Japan?
Where are these units being manufactured ?. It’s called a CBU but surely suzuki japan wont manufacture just 10 -20 units a year for Paksuzuki.
are the units being sold in Pakistan, manufactured in late 2013 and being sold as 2016 models ???????
this somehow unjustified the price of the latest Civic specifically 1.5T
ON taxes wagera mila ke woh bhi itne ki parni hai
even more worrisome is the fact that if Kizashi was discontinued in late 2013, then Suzuki must have stopped manufacturing those cars ? what does that mean? Are we getting 2013 manufactured abandoned cars as 2016 models? And that too for 50 lakhs?? Seriously?
I don’t think Japan(one of the most expensive countries in the world) would manufacture just 40-50 new cars every year for a market as dumb as Pakistan
yeah thats a good question. im curious to know as well. maybe our esteemed Guest might be able to shed some light on this mater
Kizashi is the only one of the reasonably priced car in Pakistan by any Company. Else, suzuki is selling their cars at low prices in Pakitsan. Mehran vxr should be of 8.50 lacs , Wagon-R vxl should be of 12 lacs , Cultus for 15 lacs, swift for 18 lacs .
Audi A3 is just 1200 cc………….hahah
My guess:
They introduced it in Pakistan to clear the stock. If the stock got cleared, they could sell the tools and plant (dies and technology etc.) to Pakistan and reduce their losses. This way they (Suzuki head office) manage to get rid of a failed project and recover some money, as they manage to clear space in their factory, manage to revive a failed
project, recoup R7D cost in form of royalties, etc.
Pakistan has a lot to benefit from such a venture too. It is not like trash is being given to us. Kizashi was intended to be the supreme product of Suzuki, however in markets where there was a lot of choice, Suzuki could not make it. But in Pakistan, if they did it properly, they could make a killing. Even now there is an opportunity to negotiate a very low royalty with the Japanese, offer more engine choices, make the car cheaper, and go ahead to make a killing.
But sadly businesses in Pakistan don’t want to grow by creating business opportunity. It is true that a business earns money from its business venture but on the other side of the coin, consumers also benefit from the product or service of that business. (Imagine if some day all the ambulances and barber shops decide they have a enough money therefore they need not offer their services to the society anymore).
There are other examples how developing countries adopted a product which was otherwise (technically) very good, but failed due to business reasons in developed countries. One example that comes to mind is the adoption of Volkswagen Santana (大众桑塔纳) by Chinese government, which became the de facto Mehran of China for a few decades.
I’ve seen a Kizashi on the road, someone was taking it out of Mandviwalla Motors. The driver was driving, the owner was in the back. I think the pricing for a 2.4L engined small sedan imported as a new, CBU is competitive, never mind the fact that it is obsolete elsewhere in the world. People are still getting CKD Fiat Unos and Santros here, for crying out loud.
Santro, I knew about its relaunch.
But this Fiat UNO is news! When? Where?
Recently I saw a new DFMC van (the ones Edhi foundation uses a lot) too, it was discontinued a while ago.
The left over stock imported by Pak Suzuki.
They are clearing the stock so it does mean we are getting the vehicles manufactured in 2013 isnt it?
The Fiat Uno is apparently still being assembled on demand by Raja Motor Co. Ltd. People are not aware that they can still get one – or perhaps not. I tried calling their numbers to confirm but no one answered. Typical apathy.
LMFAO…