Mr Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited |
Q. Maruti Suzuki has been a dominant player in the Indian automotive market for decades. What are the key strategies you believe have contributed to this sustained leadership?
Our sustained leadership in the Indian automotive market is fundamentally driven by our commitment to customer-centricity. At Maruti Suzuki, we place the customer at the heart of everything we do. Understanding and responding to the aspirations of the Indian people has been key to our success. We believe in our mantra of providing the ‘Joy of Mobility’ to all our customers. To achieve this, we have focused on meeting their evolving needs by offering products that provide an excellent value proposition.
Additionally, we have maintained an extensive portfolio that ranges from budget-friendly hatchbacks to premium vehicles, ensuring that we have something to offer in every segment of the market covering the customers across the spectrum.
We recognize the importance of embracing emerging trends and leveraging technology to enhance the customer experience. We have adopted the latest technologies, Artificial Intelligence being the latest one, to deliver product experiences that resonate with evolving needs and expectations of customers.
Trust between partners, management, workers, and other stakeholders has been equally crucial, fostering a collaborative environment that drives continuous improvement and innovation.
Q. With its increasing competition from both domestic and international brands, what are Maruti Suzuki’s plans to maintain its market share?
At Maruti Suzuki, we firmly believe that customer centricity & innovation are the key to maintaining our leadership. We are committed to advancing our market leadership position through various measures like diverse product portfolio, continuously upgrading our product pipeline, offering multi-powertrain options to customers, continually democratizing world class technologies in our products that are relevant to the market needs.
We also have the largest dealer network spread across India and we are regularly expanding into newer geographies to reach closer to our customers. It gives me pride to mention that we have recently inaugurated 500th NEXA Showroom at Bangalore. This clubbed with 3000 plus ARENA Showrooms makes Maruti Suzuki the most accessible automobile network, always within the reach of customers creating seamless ownership experience.
Now, we are taking this premium NEXA network to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities through a path breaking format called ‘NEXA Studio Showrooms’. To our customers these NEXA Studio showrooms shall be one stop destination whether you want to explore latest NEXA models, seek expert advice and experience the fascinating world of premium NEXA experience. We are geared up to write another page in automobile history by having 100 NEXA Studio Showrooms ready by the close of FY 2425 starting this festive season.
Lastly, we keep creating deep customer engagements both online and offline through various marketing channels.
With these measures, we create a strong ecosystem that helps us remain the most preferred choice of customers.
Q. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the automotive industry. What are Maruti Suzuki’s plans for promoting sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of its vehicles?
We believe that the future of mobility will be a tech-agnostic path where technologies such as Ethanol, CNG, CBG, EVs, and Strong Hybrids will co-exist.
With a growing preference for alternative fuels among consumers, the sale of CNG vehicles is witnessing a steady rise. Currently, we offer the industry’s largest CNG portfolio, which includes 14 models with factory-fitted S-CNG technology.
We sold nearly 450,000 CNG vehicles last financial year and aim to achieve sales of over 600,000 vehicles by the end of the current financial year. We expect CNG vehicles to make up around 35% of our entire product lineup by the end of this decade.
The Strong Hybrid technology is also resonating well with consumers looking for a blend of fuel-efficient technology and performance.
Going forward, our projection is that by 2030, EVs will constitute 15%, Strong Hybrids 25%, and CNG, Flex-Fuel, and Biogas vehicles will cumulatively comprise around 60% of our product portfolio.
Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara |
Q. How does Maruti Suzuki plan to adapt its marketing and sales strategies in response to the growing demand for electric vehicles in India?
We recognize the importance of offering a diverse range of vehicles to meet the varying needs and preferences of our customers. While we continue to invest in and promote the development of strong hybrid technology, we also understand the growing demand for electric vehicles in the market. We want to ensure that when we enter the EV segment, we have the complete EV ecosystem comprising of Charging Infrastructure for our EV customers.
Moreover, we are dedicated to pursuing more energy-efficient solutions, ensuring that we consistently offer innovative and sustainable mobility options to our customers. Our efforts are aimed not only at enhancing the driving experience but also at contributing to a cleaner, greener future.
Q. Maruti Suzuki has been gradually introducing hybrid and mild-hybrid technologies in its lineup, and with the UP government’s recent announcement for incentives for strong hybrid cars, how does the company plan to expand its hybrid offerings shortly?
For Maruti Suzuki, Strong Hybrid models have seen a surge in demand since last fiscal year. This rising demand underscores the customers’ positive reception of Strong Hybrid vehicles in the market, highlighting the shift towards more sustainable and efficient transportation solutions.
What sets Strong Hybrid cars apart is the incorporation of regenerative braking technology, a game-changer that converts braking energy into electricity. Strong Hybrid technology reduces fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions, but it also instils confidence in long-distance travel, providing peace of mind and convenience.
Q. How does Maruti Suzuki view the future mobility in India, and what role do you foresee for the company in this evolving landscape?
We envision the future of mobility in India as a transformative journey toward a more sustainable, connected, and accessible transportation solution. We strongly believe that for emission reduction you have to be tech-agnostic. Till the time electric vehicles are mainstream, you need to have intermittent technologies to manage emissions. We are continuing to partner with India in its ‘Viksit Bharat’ journey following its proven approach. Maruti Suzuki believes that the future of mobility will include a multi-technology path where technologies such as ethanol, CNG, CBG, EVs, and Strong Hybrids will co-exist, offering a clean mobility option for every type of consumer.
Q. Can you share insights into Maruti Suzuki’s approach to product innovation, especially in terms of integrating new technologies and features in your vehicles? How do you envision Maruti Suzuki’s role in the automotive industry evolving over the next five years?
Maruti Suzuki will be the role model acting as a lighthouse for Indian Automobile Industry. We have been the leader in Automobile Industry and continue to bring out products and services that will provide ‘Joy of Mobility’ to our customers retaining our leadership position.
We understand that India is a price-sensitive market and at the same time aspirations and expectations of customers are continuously rising. There is a lot of action happening in mobility across the industry. We see an upward trend in demand for SUVs and increasing preference for multiple fuel options namely CNG, Hybrids. Customers would want their cars to be ‘Second Home’ for them. Thus, we will have to provide best & cost-effective solutions to supplement these transitions.
We are in the process of democratising technology across all our products. We want the customer to be seamlessly connected with the external world through our technologically advanced cars and their features. We look forward to become one stop solution for all the automobile needs of the customer spanning across sales, service, finance, accessories and Trade-in.
We hope with these initiatives boosts the customer’s confidence in us as a brand and is able to convey our deep-seated philosophy of putting the customer first.
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