Indian automotive behemoth Maruti Suzuki India Limited is headquartered in New Delhi. As of February 2022, the business held a 44.2% market share in the passenger automobile sector. This business gave birth to some of India’s most well-known automobiles, including the Maruti 800, Omni, Zen, still-popular Swift Dzire, and Maruti Gypsy.
It has two factories in Haryana (Gurgaon and Manesar) and one in Gujarat that is entirely owned by its parent firm Suzuki, which supplies Maruti Suzuki with all of its production. 2,250,000 vehicles can be produced annually by them together.
Birth of Maruti Suzuki
Suzuki does not go by the name Maruti. There are just Maruti automobiles in India. To grasp it, you must have some background knowledge. The late Sanjay Gandhi had the innovative concept to manufacture inexpensive cars in India for the middle class. This was a tremendously smart idea that eventually gave rise to the Ford Model T in the US and the Volks Wagon in Germany.
Indira Gandhi served as the country’s prime minister during that time. They created the government-run Maruti Udyog Ltd. with her assistance, and they then began looking for a partner to import the technology.
Suzuki of Japan (formerly known as Suzuki Motor Corporation) ultimately consented to a JV with equity participation. Being the original company, Maruti Udyog Ltd chose to brand the vehicles as Maruti. The first models to be released were the Maruti 800 and Maruti Omni.
Maruti Suzuki Entering the Market
When Maruti Suzuki was formed as a partnership between the Indian government (Maruti Udyog Ltd.) and Suzuki, Japan, it operated as a company that sourced parts and labor locally to provide Indians with affordable cars. Then, to inject finance into its growth story, Maruti Suzuki was listed on the Indian stock exchanges.
This made it possible for regular investors to benefit from the increase in their money as Maruti Suzuki expanded. Suzuki had been increasing its ownership of Maruti Suzuki in the interim, and when the Indian government ultimately sold its portion to Suzuki, Suzuki took control of the company.
Is Suzuki an Indian Company?
Whether Maruti Suzuki is an Indian corporation or not is an arguable point. Suzuki owns 56% of the corporation, with Indian shareholders holding the remaining 44%. This indicates that Japanese and Indian interests jointly control Maruti Suzuki.
Whether it should be seen as an Indian company or not mainly depends on how you look at it. Suzuki technically controls the company legally, but Indians have a bigger influence on how it operates.
Roles of the Companies
Maruti Suzuki’s primary responsibilities include manufacturing, advertising, selling, and servicing Suzuki vehicles in India so that they can be distributed throughout the country. Additionally, some research and development of vehicles tailored for India have lately begun using Suzuki platforms and engines, of course under the direction of the Suzuki management. A lot of money has been invested in developing top-notch labs and facilities in India to achieve this goal.
Despite the increasing independence of the local technicians and engineers, Suzuki’s major focus will stay on Maruti Suzuki because it is “THE” most lucrative subsidiary of the company. Therefore, there is essentially no Maruti remaining. Organizationally, Maruti Suzuki is still expanding faster than the industry standard. Suzuki enjoys having the upper hand and exercising strict authority. The situation is acceptable to the smaller partners.
About the Market Strategy
The company’s ability to satisfy the expectations of the budget-conscious middle-class consumers in India by providing goods at low starting pricing with low maintenance costs is the key to its success. The company’s nationwide network of service centers and consumer touch points serves a sizable number of vehicles each day.
However, only a small number of Maruti Suzuki models have ever received an NCAP rating higher than 3.0. They were among the first in their field to thoroughly research and effectively address consumer behavior. To address the requirements and demands of various societal groups, the corporation primarily employed a market segmentation policy.
The Bottom Line
Due to the bonding, it has with its target consumers (Indians) in general, Maruti Suzuki has long enjoyed the trust and brand loyalty of Indians. The company has a fantastic and enthusiastic marketing team that frequently engages the audience and occasionally contributes to the necessary changes in society.
Given the brand value it already has, the challenge for it would be to keep it for a very long time. Achieving a position like this quickly is feasible, but remaining there for a long time demonstrates the power it has.
The business has all the tools necessary to ensure that it keeps up with the times and develops as new developments, such as digital marketing, join the market. Learning about the expanding sector of digital marketing is crucial given its growing relevance.
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