[TusharK]

According to a media report, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz is likely to go out of production next month and will be phased out by April 2025. The sedan is being discontinued due to declining sales as customer preference is shifting towards SUVs.



The Maruti Ciaz was launched in 2014 as a rival to the Honda City and Hyundai Verna. Midsize sedan sales have been on a decline since the advent of compact SUVs. In 2015, sedans accounted for 20% of the Indian car market, dropping to 10% in 2024. On the other hand, SUVs make up over 50% of the total sales.

Maruti Suzuki’s market share in the midsize sedan segment has declined significantly from 35-40% to just 11% since the introduction of models like the Volkswagen Virtus and Skoda Slavia. The former is now the best-selling midsize sedan, followed by the Slavia and Verna.

Another reason for the drop in the popularity of the Ciaz is the lack of updates. The sedan received its last major update in 2018. As a result, it lacks quite a few features and looks quite dated compared to its rivals.

Reports suggest that Maruti Suzuki is unlikely to launch a replacement for the Ciaz in a market, which is more inclined towards the SUV segment.

Source: Autocar India

Link to Team-BHP News

[venukrithish]

Finally. This product has recieved little to no updates ever since it launched. It's numbers are low but MS treated it very poorly as well.

[saikishor]

One update could have fixed this car. Who knows if sedan market picks up MS might invest in it again.

Curious as to which car would replace this car in the govt sarkaar category. Most of the sales that this car received was from govt officials.

[iSubham]

Maruti Suzuki lesson 101 on how to ignore and completely stunt a perfectly capable car.
The Ciaz hasn't received a single update in the past 7 years, and no major generational change in the past 11 years. It still makes do with the K15B variant with an ancient 4-speed TC automatic. No feature additions or design modernizations. And Maruti blames lack of a market for it's midsize sedan offering.
Why can't Maruti update the Ciaz along the lines of the new Dzire? The design will mould even better onto a longer sedan. Give it the newer 6-speed Aisin TC gearbox from the XL6/Grand Vitara and plonk in the 1.0 Boosterjet from the Fronx. This alone will vastly expand the appeal for the Ciaz.

I can't seem to understand why Maruti doesn't plonk the 1.0 Boosterjet into everything they can. They've invested so much into localising it.

The Ignis is definitely next in-line for the axe. No updates since launch. Heck, every other car has gotten the newer K12N while the Ignis continues with the older K12M. It's better built than its siblings Spresso, Celerio, WagonR and Swift however languishes owing to step-motherly treatment from Maruti. They've already withdrawn it from many international markets. This generation is it's last.

[VIN No]

I feel they should've updated the car (feature upgrades and sorts) it has a lot if potential considering it sells as much as the city (which is a whole generation newer) with a facelift it could've got 3-5k units quite easily IMO

[ringsoftime]

Par for the course I think. People who prefer sedans nowadays do so only for the dynamics and that low lying agility compared to crossovers. Since no turbo diesels are present the natural candidates are the TSIs from SAVW. And for those who needs just the practicality, Dzire and Amaze offers it in a considerably lower price bracket due to the sub 4m rules.
Ciaz stopping won't be creating any ruckus, but the next in line is City, which unless Honda introduces some spicy changes, would meet with the same fate, and that would be a landmark moment.

[Rumblestrip]

Being a market leader MS should have a product in all the segments. Though market is steering towards SUVs/pseudo SUVs there is still a small market for sedan. Ciaz would have done decent numbers if there were timely updates. A missed opportunity

[doomketu]

A car that could have killed Honda City Gen 5, if it was updated and made more modern, a car that had fantastic boot space and a nimbleness associated with it. A car that was what a first time Sedan owners could aspire for, killed by MS in the most torturous manner. SX4, its predecessor killed of similarly highlights MS's reluctance to strengthen the >4m sedan space and focus only on <4m or maybe the Toyota partnership Grand Vitara (though i despise calling it that).

[Dr.Driver]

A totally neglected offering from MSIL. It was fantastic and topped the charts in its prime time. Someone wanting a no nonsense >4m sedan on a budget of <4m would still go for the Ciaz. Reliable, Spacious, Comfortable, Cheap to run and maintain, all check.

[Carpainter]

So with Ciaz going out of production, City might see a little increase in sales. Let's be honest, Ciaz and City were the only option if one wants to buy a reliable sedan in this segment. Virtus and Verna are good but the former is not known for bulletproof reliability and the later has very polarizing design. Govt offices will probably buy more City now to ferry their officials as well. Personally, I'd probably buy Virtus if I were in the market but City remains the only sensible and reliable option left in this segment.

Sad to see OEMs ditching sedans altogether even though I believe there is still a market for properly loaded well priced sedan. Also, if someone wants to maintain multi car garage, I think he'd love to have a sedan in the mix instead of all suvs.

[DicKy]

Must be some upcoming regulatory issues that warrant some investments if they wanted to continue selling it. Or they want to divert the K15C production to other better selling or upcoming models.

That said, if at all Suzuki wants to continue the sales in the segment for the international market, they maybe looking to rebadge the Yaris Ativ/Vios/ Thai Yaris. No way Suzuki is developing any sedan bigger than the Dzire.

Well, if at all Maruti and Toyota wants to enter the segment in India, this would be it.







Btw, Maruti. Stop blaming customer preferences. Since the Ciaz was launched, two generations of Honda City and three generations of Verna was sold in India.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by doomketu

A car that could have killed Honda City Gen 5, if it was updated and made more modern, a car that had fantastic boot space and a nimbleness associated with it.

I doubt any further killing is required. January 2025 sales as below, the City sells even less than the old Ciaz:

City: 739 units
Ciaz: 768 units
Verna: 1477 units
Slavia: 1510 units
Virtus: 1795 units

The segment is dying anyways, and the Ciaz and City are both outdated. Ciaz is 11 years old with just one facelift in between, the City meanwhile had two comprehensive facelifts in between - but still relying on old engines, mechanicals and platforms with origins in 2008. The new Amaze has taken some relevance away from the City as well.

Maruti can still continue to do decent numbers if they shift the Ciaz to the Commerical Tour showrooms.

[doomketu]

Thank you for the sales figures Crazy driver. Seems Honda can sacrifice itself after all and MS keeps it hands clean. Oh dear lord , with Virtus gaining sales, i was hoping we could as a market keep the C segments Sedans alive rather than the lifted Hatchbacks that pass of as SUV's .

[PrasannaDhana]

Ciaz is a wonderful car.

Value for money,
Looks elegant,
Spacious,
Refined,
Very very comfortable,
Cheap to run & maintain,
Reliable

I used one for 5 years and loved it totally. Too bad to see it go.

[BrabarusMark]

The Ciaz was the only car my mother outrightly loved when we went to check out the Grand Vitara. She was ready to book the car as well, but the lack of any updated features and the old powertrain stopped us.

I was hoping the Toyota partnership would bring a strong hybrid sedan to India. That seems unlikely now, considering Toyota itself is scaling back on its sedans.