Maruti Udyog Limited (4Ps Publication, IIPM)

Maruti Suzuki has been one of the most successful collaborations in the Indian automobile history. The company came into existence about 25 years ago, when the chronic lack of choices in automobiles gave way to Sanjay Gandhi’s vision for changing things for good. The preceding chain of events brought about the establishment of Maruti Udyog under a technical collaboration with Suzuki Motors Japan in 1981. With per capita income of Indian families not high enough, Maruti Udyog introduced the most innovative car model till date in the history of Indian automobiles – the Maruti 800 – a car that succeeded on the simple premise that it did not have any innovation. The much affordable 800 gave to the low income Indian consumer all that she could have wanted through a high-class car – air conditioning, security from nature and other elemtnes, and most importantly, family travel. With liberalization came more competition from global leaders like Toyota, GM etc. But Maruti Udyog, with its focus on consolidating sustainable competitive advantages, disproved even hardened critics by providing to consumers the best in quality, after sales service network, style and technology, at the lowest of prices. With a massive market share that ranges between 40 to 55%, depending on the quarter one studies, Maruti has been excruciatingly unforgiving on competition, whether through new product launches (where Swift massacred a direct competition from Hyundai’s Getz), or through expanding dealer networks unbelievable (where companies like Toyota and GM have openly accepted that they cannot hope to get more than 10% of marketshare, and that too by 2010). Jagdish Khattar (left), Maruti's head, must be a proud man, for innovation was never so violent... on competition!

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Editor: Arindam Chaudhuri

Source: IIPM Publication