The Eeco seems to have delivered what the Versa failed to do for Maruti Suzuki, India’s leading car manufacturer. Buyers of Maruti Eeco face a 3-4 months waiting list for delivery, as the company grapples with demand and supply mismatch.

Maruti Suzuki Eeco is a five-door, C-segment vehicle, specifically designed for India by the auto-major with a particular focus to offer “space” and “comfort” for a large family. Launched at the recent Auto Expo 2010, the Eeco comes with both five-seater and a seven-seater option.

“The product has received overwhelming customer response for its attractive power, good air-conditioning, looks and high utility value,” an official spokesperson of the company said.

“All these features along with attractive prices have got us many more buyers than what we had planned. This has resulted in a shortfall in supply as compared to the huge demand and we are now trying to increase production so as to match the demand scenario,” he explained.

According to trade sources, there is a waiting list drawn at almost every dealership for Eeco. It generally varies between 3-4 months and in some regions it may even be 6-7 months.

“Dealers are unable to give a firm date of delivery and are only stating that no firm delivery schedule has come to them from the company,” a Chennai-based buyer, who booked the vehicle in the third week of January, told this correspondent on condition of anonymity.

“We are trying our best to increase production and we expect the average monthly sales initially will be around 3,000 per month,” the spokesperson said.

According to the company, most of the buyers of Eecho are “upgraders from the Omni”. Eeco is available in three variants and comes in six colours, offering a range of choice.