The company is all set to launch a new multi-purpose vehicle Eeco at the Auto Expo that it hopes will sell around 40000 units annually . The Eeco, that has a 1.2-litre petrol engine, is a replacement of the Versa model that had failed to impress the market since its launch in 2001. The Eeco, that will be available in five and seven-seater versions, is expected to be priced around Rs 3-3 .5 lakh while the phased out Versa costed upwards of Rs 3.5 lakh. Maruti had stopped production of Versa three months ago.
“We had tried selling the vehicle as a luxury model, which was wrong. Based on feedbacks, we have now positioned the vehicle just above the Omni,” Srivastava said. Maruti may launch a CNG variant of the Eeco later, targetting the taxi segment, managing executive officer (engineering) I V Rao said.