Hailing Madhavan as contemporary, pragmatic, intelligent, leader-like, balanced and caring, Maruti Suzuki has appointed the actor as the brand face for its hatchback WagonR.

In a communiqué, the car major said Madhavan would refresh WagonR’s values, strengthen the brand further, and at the same time add youthfulness to the brand. “Mr. Madhavan will be the brand face for WagonR. We welcome him to the Maruti Suzuki family,” it said.

Before the actor was signed on, a survey on Madhavan by Maruti revealed that he was a national celebrity with a skew towards the southern parts of the country. Madhavan was subsequently considered a right fit after analyzing his future ventures/prospects and the brand objectives of WagonR.

“WagonR stands for being contemporary, pragmatic, intelligent, leader-like, balanced and caring. All will agree that the same attributes stand true for Madhavan as well,” according to the communiqué.

Maruti Suzuki chief general manager Shashank Srivastava said, “Our research established that a famous face works well for a brand if both are just the right fit for each other. We feel that associating with a personality such as Madhavan will certainly reinforce the brand values of WagonR.”

“Given the popularity of Madhvan in the south, the masses will relate to the brand more strongly with a local icon becoming the face of the brand. There will be more focus on a regional communication strategy by having local language dialogues to reach out to the masses,” he added.