Maruti looks for agency to bring the Swift Sedan in

Here comes the Swift Sedan. As soon as March, if sources are to be believed. And with a diesel version, too, by the end of the year. A creative pitch is learnt to have been called for the new car.

The roster agencies for Maruti Suzuki India Ltd are O&M, Lowe, Hakuhodo Percept and Capital Advertising, and all four of them have been invited to pitch for the Swift Sedan business. The first car launch of 2008 from the Maruti stable, the Swift Sedan will be the company's second sedan, the first being the SX4.

Maruti Suzuki put the Swift on the road in 2005, and it was considered the company’s most significant launch since that of the Maruti 800 more than two decades ago. One saw a glimpse of the car in Yash Raj Films’ Bunty Aur Bubli, which was released simultaneously. The promotion caught the eye, especially as it was the first time that Maruti had used such a strategy to promote a product.

The third in the Swift family, the Swift Sedan, is learnt to be a three-box version of the Swift hatchback and the shape of the car, as reported, will bear a strong family resemblance. It will be powered by a 1.3 litre petrol engine. A diesel version of the car is planned to be rolled out by the end of 2008.

The Esteem, which is being phased out now, was unveiled during the 1990s as a spruced up version of the Maruti 1000.

Maruti Suzuki reported excellent sales figures for November 2007: Its total sales went up by 26.6 per cent year on year to 69,699 units over October 2007.

Hakuhodo Percept was given the creative duties for the company’s re-entrant in the SUV market, the refurbished Grand Vitara, the Escudo. Hakuhodo has been handling the duties for the Maruti 800 and the Wagon R as well. The revamped Baleno, the SX4, was launched in May 2007 and its creative business was awarded to Lowe, making it the fifth Maruti brand in the agency’s basket, the other four being the Omni, Alto, Esteem and Versa. O&M is in charge of the Zen Estilo and Capital has the Swift.