Maruti Suzuki organises Rock Fest to celebrate A-star’s birthday

NEW DELHI, October 22, 2009: Maruti Suzuki, the country’s number one car-maker, will organise a multi-city rock music festival to commemorate the birthday of its hot-selling hatchback, A-star.

The rock show will kick-off from Delhi, when musical groups – Parikrama, Advaita, Raghav Sachar and director-actor Farhan Akhtar of ‘Rock On’ fame – will hold centrestage at Okhla’s NSIC Ground. Farhan Akhar, a poster-boy of Young India will be singing some of his hit songs. Farhan is the brand face for Maruti Suzuki A-star,

The car major will also unveil a huge 50-feet guitar at the venue. The guitar, arguably the world’s largest, will vie for the top world records.

Mayank Pareek, Executive Officer – Marketing and Sales at Maruti Suzuki, says, “A-star, with its zippy K-series engine, embodies a zest for life with the ‘Stop at nothing’ tag. Over the past year, we have been truly overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response from A-star’s young customers in India and abroad. Pulsating rock music identifies best with youth. Organizing a rock music festival and creating this huge guitar is our way of saying a big ‘Thank You’ to the young spirit of India.”

Maruti Suzuki and A-star have been focusing on the youth of India. Already, close to a lakh of A-stars ply on the country’s roads. The car has won a host of awards, including the Zigwheels ‘Car of the Year’, the Autocar-UTVi ‘Small car of the Year’, and ‘Technology of the Year 2009 – KB 10 Engine’ by Overdrive.

But it is A-star’s performance in the overseas markets that has stood out. As of date, over 77,500 units of A-stars have been exported to foreign shores; of this, over 72,000 units have been Europe-bound.

The car won another laurel recently when it was crowned as the most environment friendly car in Europe (excluding hybrids and micro-cars) by VCD Ratings, Germany, beating 299 other competitors hands-down. A-star is powered by a brand-new low-weight, three-cylinder aluminium next-generation K-series engine, produced exclusively at Maruti Suzuki’s Gurgaon facility.

The A-star’s engine and aerodynamic design make it the most fuel-efficient car in A2 segment. The five-door hatchback, Maruti Suzuki’s fifth World Strategic Model and offers great fuel efficiency at 19.6 km.litre. It is an ideal city car with a turning radius of 4.5 meters and ground clearance of 170 mm.

Following the Delhi show, Bangalore will host the next gig on October 30. Farhan Akhtar will again play an important part in the proceedings, with Parikrama and Raghu Dixit giving him company. Mumbai will be next on November 7; the star attractions being Akhtar, Parikrama and Indian Ocean.

Maruti Suzuki has drawn up extensive plans to embrace the youth and whip up frenzy in anticipation of the multi-city rock events. Advertising in mass media – radio, Web, print and TV – apart, on-ground activities will include reaching out to shopping malls, restaurants and pubs, and organizing promotions at corporate offices and colleges across these three cities.

Entry Passes for the events can be downloaded at www.marutisuzukiastar.com