Indian Autos blog

The big daddy of the Indian car Industry is flexing its muscle to gain back what it has lost in the last couple of years. Maruti Suzuki has been facing intense heat from the competitors in the past few years. Although, it has successfully managed to retain the top spot, the competition is only going to get stiffer. Clearly, this is no time to fold your hands and follow the ‘wait and watch’ strategy.

The major reason where Maruti is loosing out on is product launches. The last launch from Maruti Suzuki was the Kizashi in February 2011 and the product bombed quite badly. So Maruti Suzuki has decided to opt in for a ‘hands on’ approach in the market. By that we mean, it is investing a whopping 3,000 crores in 2012-13 financial year on various areas, including expanding capacity and new model launches.

The few products that are expected from Maruti’s stable over the next couple of years are:

• New Swift (on August 17, 2011)
• New Swift Dzire which will be based on the new Swift but will be shorter than the current Dzire.
• R3 MPV to challenge the Toyota Innova
• Small car below the Wagon R by end of 2012
• Next generation SX4 in 2013
• A-Star facelift by 2013
• Ritz facelift by 2013

These are the product that we are 100% sure of. Of course, there will be some facelifts and a few ‘special edition’ models (read stickered models) in the pipeline as well which cost a few bucks to

Of course, after developing these models, MSIL needs to build them at some place. So they are investing about Rs 4,000 crore in this fiscal primarily on setting new assembly lines inside its Manesar facility with an annual capacity of 2.5 lakh uints. The company is also increasing the production capacity of diesel cars to 2.9 lakh units annually from existing 2.4 lakh units.

By the looks of it, Maruti Suzuki is certainly stepping on the right stones for the future.

What do you think about these plans?

Maruti Suzuki, famous for its affordable and easy after-sales service, plans to take its strength to the next level by adding 1500 service outlets by 2015. The company wants to provide car servicing facility for every 25 km across India.

This move was very expected from the auto major as last month MSI had announced to invest about Rs 1,925 crore to set up a third plant with an installed capacity of 2.5 lakh units inside the Manesar facility.

Pankaj Narula, the executive officer of the Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said

We expect service load at our network multiply manifold, as Maruti Suzuki scales up capacity to 1.7 million units in coming years

Currently, the company has over 2,784 service points which will be increased to over 4,200 outlets in the next five years employing more than 55,000 employees pan India.

The company is also expected to launch its premium Kizashi sedan by the end of this year. It’s pending launches include the R3 MPV, made-in-India car, diesel variant of SX4 and new Swift.

Maruti Suzuki is losing its market share in India steadily and for the first time in 25 years, Maruti Suzuki’s market share has dropped below the 50% mark. Currently Maruti Suzuki’s market share stands at 47%. Maruti has lost 6% of the market share as compared to lat year.

Maruti Suzuki has been the market leader in the Indian car scene for ages and a 47% market share is in no way ignorable but is the drop in the market share the result of new competitive players like Ford and GM offering better products and from now could Maruti’s share steadily decline?

The Ford Figo and Chevrolet Beat with faster delivery times are considerably eating into Maruti’s small car sales and the Nissan Micra, Toyota Etios and the Honda NSC small car would soon join the assault party.

Maruti’s bestseller Alto would also be challenged soon with Hyundai, GM India and Nissan planning to take on the Alto soon. The Alto would also face stiff competition from Ford and Peugeot who could also enter the Alto’s segment in the future. The Tata Dolphin if launched could kill the Maruti Alto.

With strong threats from so many manufacturers would Maruti be able to hold its fort?

Cars that has threatened Maruti -

> Ford Figo
> Tata Nano
> Chevrolet Beat

Future cars Maturi should lookout for -

> Tata Dolphin
> Hyundai H800 small car
> Nissan small car with Ashok Leyland JV
> GM-SAIC small car
> Toyota Etios
> Ford B156 small car

Click through to read more

Maruti Suzuki India’s Managing Executive Officer (Engineering) has confirmed development of the 800 and Omni van to make it fit for sales after Euro IV norms come into being next year. He also stated the Indian engineers were working on a new small car based on an “existing platform.”

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, India’s largest car maker, unveiled an all-new BS-IV compliant K12M engine at its Gurgaon plant. The 1.2L all-aluminium engine is second in the K-series and is said to have technological superiority and higher fuel efficiency over the K10B engine that powers Maruti Suzuki’s A-Star.

The K12M engine has been specifically designed for Indian applications. Maruti Suzuki’s engineers worked as part of Suzuki’s Engine Design team for the design, calibration and testing of the engine in Japan and in India. It will be put to use in the new Ritz hatchback (a.k.a Splash) which is slated for launch in May ’09.

Maruti Suzuki India today revealed its plans to replace three of its cars — the WagonR, Omni and Versa. A person dealing with the projects said the new WagonR will be based on the Suzuki’s MR Wagon platform(like the existing model), but the exterior and interior will be throughly made-over. The new Omni will be built on Versa platform to replace both Omni and Versa.

Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Limited unveiled the much-awaited, World Strategic Model, A-star here today.

Powered by the new, state-of-the-art, light weight, 998cc K10B petrol engine, A-star is the best in class fuel-efficient car with a mileage of 19.59 kilometers per litre, as tested by ARAI, Pune, country’s premier automotive research agency.

Built on a brand new platform, the A-star is an excellent city car with best in class turning radius, power, flat torque (minimum gearshifts) and performance.

A-star is truly a green car with no compromise. The newest model meets the European ELV norms, which implies that 85 per cent of the car is recyclable. In addition, it is free from hazardous materials like Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Chromium.

The A-star was launched in the city by Mr. RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Limited and other senior company officials.

The A-star has been designed keeping in mind aspirations of the urban economy-conscious customers, who seek best-in-class fuel efficiency,lower emission, and high quality and high performance alongwith style. It also takes the engine technology in India to the next level. A-star is the most relevant car that addresses the needs of today’s customers be it India or any other part of the world.