Will Maruti Continue Dominating Indian Car Industry ?

[maxbhp]

Hello Folks,

Do you think maruti will continue dominating indian car industry with its super economy cars ? Maruti today churns out around 30000 cars a month . Do you think Toyota or Honda or Hyundai for that matter can effectievly compete against maruti ? Each manufacturer has one of their cars are doing very well , I mean for Hyundai its Santro ...2nd best selling car currently ..Honda with its city is doing well but recently is been threatened by Josh Machine . Toyota is been doing well with their MUV . Where as for Maruti other than Baleno / Esteem / Zen all have been doing very well and even these cars were doing really well at one time and has substantially contributed to company profit for their respective period. And now even Toyota will enter the small car fight and with Aygo's launch It looks like Hyundai is more at a threat than Maruti as Aygo will essentially come in Matiz / Santro / Palio / Zen category . Now the biggest and the most disheartening fact is that the company which is specialised in making small car is no where in the scene .

[yeis]

Well, I guess yes! Hyundai may compete but Honda, Toyota can't. Was reading an article in ACI of current month. Honda's global chief has plans to triple the production to 1.5L units an year by 2010 which results into 12.5k units a month. By 2010 Maruti will reach 50k units or maybe more per month. There share would be similar that of today's. Hyundai may take a leap and play big though. If Tata convinces people with some better quality cars, it may play good role as well.

[1100D]

I dont see Maruti dominating by itself. Maruti's biggest grosser is the 800/Alto segment where-in the buyers are only price/FE sensitive, this will be under a serious threat when the Tata 1 lakh car comes up, even if that turns out to be a very unreliable car for a few months. Next up would be the Wagon R/Santro category which would face some challenge from the likes of Spark and Aygo and not to mention the New Indica (with its Dicor engine). Moreover everyone knows about Honda's willingness to bring in the Jazz and that could really ruin the Swift party. But personally hope that the Grande Punto too plays a big role. But yes, with the Nissan alliance it could be a different story.

[SLK]

Yes, maruti would continue to dominate the industry till the industry is itself dominated by A, B segment cars.... B+ and above there just might be too much competition for any one company to dominate.

[yeis]

Originally Posted by SLK

Yes, maruti would continue to dominate the industry till the industry is itself dominated by A, B segment cars.... B+ and above there just might be too much competition for any one company to dominate.

Well said, SLK. A + B segment = Indian car industry. All other segments' players can't dominate, doesn't matter how good they are doing.

[sbasak]

As long as Maruti/Suzuki can provide cheap, reliable, fuel efficient and excellent after sales service, they have nothing to worry about.
Only Hyundai can compete with them. Toyota & Honda are still targeting their cars as luxury brands. It is hard to compete with Maruti's 20 years base in India.

[devarshi84]

Maruti will remain at the top unless.

Honda starts manufacturing a hatchback. Indians dont care as long as its a Honda

Tata improves scores on quality. Its going to happen soon if going by the current trent tata has accepted.

Hyundai doesnt seem to able to take the top spot anytime soon but it will stay on the second or third spot with a tough fight.

[veyron1]

Maruti has the one most coveted asset that other brands would kill to have. Network. Maruti has the most widespread service/dealer network in India. Remeber the ad where a guy in a Gypsy drives to a deserted hill and shouts.."Ay kaancha...". That's actually true.

Maruti's market share majority is held by people who are either first-time buyers, or if there's somebody in their family who owns a Maruti, etc. etc. I don't see how anybody can shake that faith, for a long time to come. Unless Toyota decides to go full-fledged...

[yeis]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Honda starts manufacturing a hatchback. Indians dont care as long as its a Honda

Devarshi, Honda is planning to launch two hatches (Jazz by 2008 and a super-mini car by 2010) by 2010 and their projections are to manufacture 1.5L cars per annum which is not a satisfying position. This would make a total of 6% of total market. Maruti will be producing close to 12L vehicles till then. As a result Honda can't be no. 1 in next one decade at least.

[noviceDriver]

I don't see any reason for Toyota making that kind of investment in India to manufacture small cars in huge numbers (and until and unless someone produces cars locally, it won't be cost effective). As put by SLK and others, A + B segment cars occupy the biggest chunk in Indian automobile market. Unless someone can come up with cheap but reliable and FE cars (like Maruti is doing now) it'll be VERY DIFFICULT to move Maruti from the top slot.

[yeis]

I don't see any reason for Toyota making that kind of investment in India to manufacture small cars in huge numbers (and until and unless someone produces cars locally, it won't be cost effective).

Toyota have the plans to come with a small car in India, not now though. There was a news on web yesterday in which Toyota clearly denied that they are working on small car as of now. But its inevitable that Toyota will produce and sell small cars in India in a couple of years.

[Ironmarine]

No Matter what I would preffer Maruthi should dominate the industry. Guys, if you remember until Maruthi came into picture we had very few models in the market. Its only after these guys came into market we saw new players jumping into the picture to compete

[GTO]

I would think Marutis marketshare will go down further, but their sales will increase (as the market does).

1. Their brand value equates trust, value and FE to the Indian consumer.

2. Their dealership coverage is astounding! Forget urban, the coverage they have in semi-urban / rural areas is vast.

3. Very soon, they will have common-rail engines. Only Maruti and Tata will be able to price commonrails economically.

4. Product range is the only grey area. How long are they going to dominate with the Alto, Omni, wagonR etc? Its product portfolio is either already outdated..or soon will be. Maruti is incapable of developing cars, and Suzuki is cash-strapped to design a lot of small cars in the next decade.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by GTO

I would think Marutis marketshare will go down further, but their sales will increase (as the market does).

1. Their brand value equates trust, value and FE to the Indian consumer.

2. Their dealership coverage is astounding! Forget urban, the coverage they have in semi-urban / rural areas is vast.

3. Very soon, they will have common-rail engines. Only Maruti and Tata will be able to price commonrails economically.

4. Product range is the only grey area. How long are they going to dominate with the Alto, Omni, wagonR etc? Its product portfolio is either already outdated..or soon will be. Maruti is incapable of developing cars, and Suzuki is cash-strapped to design a lot of small cars in the next decade.

pretty good & sensible observation made.
the talk about honda or toyota competing with maruthi is only just a dream. these guys will not target the lower end of the indian market, which is really the bigger pie. in india, the masses are still economically very backward & even if the trend improves in the next 20 years, i cant imagine hondas & toyotas lining up with basic models like the alto or the 800.

[himanshugoswami]

IMHO, the only company in India as of date that can seriously threaten Maruti in terms of numbers is TATA.

their Indica sales are growing each month, and with the imminent launch of the Dicor Indicas and Indigos, follwed by the JTD engined cars in 2007, this can only get better.

the future will be diesel and as of date, Maruti has only one serious potential contender- the Swift with the Fiat JTD engine.