Maruti Suzuki's Master Plan for Maintaining Numero Uno Status Revealed

Maruti Suzuki is the largest carmaker of the country. The brand is planning to holding on to this position even in the next decade. And to achieve this, the Manesar-based carmaker will have to reach the 10 million annual sales target that Suzuki Motor Corporation has forecasted for it. In line with this, Maruti Suzuki is planning to invest over 1500 crores to acquire land parcels across the country, which is something that should help it achieve this tough target. In total, the carmaker will get hold of over 118 landmasses across the nation. These properties will be used for future expansion of touch points, which Maruti Suzuki believes will help in strengthening its network and sales figures.

“Network is one of the critical success factors and the land is the most important resource for its fast-paced expansion. Maruti Suzuki is buying and providing land parcels to its network partners at reasonable rental rates, thereby preventing stress on their profitability due to rising lease rentals.”

Maruti Suzuki India Pvt Ltd 

Maruti Suzuki is proceeding with this pilot project in six well-defined network zones across the country. With these landmasses at hand, the brand is planning to develop a bigger sales and service network with ‘Company Owner & Dealership Operated’ format for the retail and service network, wherein the retail outlet or the service centre will be owned by the brand but will be operated by a 3rd-party vendor.

This isn’t the first time that an automaker is planning to operate the sales & service network in CODO style. The third-largest carmaker of the country – Tata Motors used to operate the Concorde chain of dealerships in the same manner. However, after suffering major losses from their operations, Tata Motors has pulled the shutters down of various Concorde dealerships.

A new-entrant in the Indian auto market – MG also operates two experience centres in such a manner. The Chinese-owned British brand’s experience centres are located in Prabhadevi, Mumbai and Gurgugram, Haryana. Talking of Maruti Suzuki’s future plans, the brand has plans to operate with a vehicle line-up consisting of nearly 30 products. The list includes cars of various body styles, such as hatchback, sedan, SUV, and more. Maruti Suzuki’s commercial vehicle vertical will also be a part of this pilot project. If the total sales figure of the Japanese brand is to be considered, it sold 1.43 million units in FY 20 by registering a drop of nearly 18 per cent from the 1.78 million units sold in FY 19.

Source- Money Control