[urajkumar]

MODS: I tried searching for similar threads since i was sure this was discussed somewhere but did not find any. please do merge if something similar exists.

I saw this news and started wondering how Maruti is absolutely dominating the Automobile industry in India.

Link:
Taxi-market Dzire christened ‘Swift Dzire Tour’ - News - Autocar India

Some facts to ponder:

1) Domination: 40% of all cars sold in Feb is Maruti (Maruti Vs 13 other brands). Closest competitor is hyundai with 14% market share
3) Service: In spite of having the most volumes, the sales & service is absolutely the best. Normally if any company has monopoly with high volumes, the service normally suffers (Airtel for example) but yet Maruti is an outstanding exception.
4) Value for Money: Given the demand it still remains absolute value for money. They could raise the price & no one will complain but yet they remain very competitive against all cars (You will agree when you look at cost comparison in the link of the Taxi Dzire vs against TATA cars).
5) Brand Loyalty: When the strike happened, delivery's were late etc media were speculating the end of the brand domination. However there was hardly a whimper of dissent anywhere on delay & the customers waited patienty. When bookings opened, the market responce was overwhelming. We just love the maruti so much that we turn a blind eye to even obvious issues. "Love is blind"
6) The Midas Touch: Whatever they do, they find success.
- The Swift Diesel runs on Fiat engines but there are many other cars which are on the same engine which are not even close
- Put a ugly boot on the Swift and yet it sells. Make it a notch back and it still reaches the top 3 in car sales
- The Eon came with the entire media backing it up but still Alto rules the roost till date
- The wagonR is still in top 5. Forget even that, they are still selling 7000+ OMNI's

There used to see a lot of TATA Taxi's on the highway. Now with this move, Maruti is going to rule the highways too. The competition will continue to have sleepless nights as usual.

Normally we indians like to root for the underdog but Maruti as usual in an exception where we will blindly stand by them for many years to come.

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by urajkumar

how Maruti is absolutely dominating the Automobile industry in India.

I googled and found this. Maruti market share declines to 54% in April-May

So in 2000, MSIL share was 54% down from 72% in 1999 which is down to 40% now. IMO MSILs sales are driven by the thought that marutis are always cheaper to maintain and anyone can service a maruti. Once that perception starts to melt, we will see the share going down unless MSIL takes corrective action. and their cars are overpriced for what they offer.

Not an absolute dominance really.

[urajkumar]

Originally Posted by akshay380

I googled and found this. Maruti market share declines to 54% in April-May

So in 2000, MSIL share was 54% down from 72% in 1999 which is down to 40% now. IMO MSILs sales are driven by the thought that marutis are always cheaper to maintain and anyone can service a maruti. Once that perception starts to melt, we will see the share going down unless MSIL takes corrective action. and their cars are overpriced for what they offer.

Not an absolute dominance really.

Well, you should also consider the fact that in 2000 the number of auto manufactures were less than 6 and it is now 14 which includes almost all the major manufactures in the world. To still retain monopoly in India (50% to 40% in 12 years) i think is no small feat considering it nowhere figures in the top 3 in the world. I dont see Maruti losing the crown for another 10 years unless something drastic happens.

[s4ch]

Maruti are still the best value for money in India. Most people (in the last 15 years or so) would have had a Maruti as their first car, and seeing the lack of trouble and problems, coupled with extensive after sales service coverage and cheap maintenance, most would be inclined to stick with the same brand. It seems to me that if Maruti even put a half decent product out people are ready to jump at it and queue for months. Recently, I got my Baleno serviced and I was honestly blown away with the quality of their service, as compared to other brands like Mahindra and TATA, both of which I also have extensive experience. I would be happy to stick with a Maruti brand albeit a bit boring and unfashionable, just because of their great A.S.S. Thus I do not see their dominance diminishing anytime soon, although I can possibly imagine in another 10 years the younger generation switching their preference to brands like Honda and Hyundai because of the fashion statement associated with such brands - that is unless Maruti gets back with the times and revolutionise their image like the Swift did back in 05/06.

[DieselAddikt]

The 14 manufactures mentioned here have just started their journey in India. (Most of them.) And maruti was here since 80's right ? Indian perception will take a lot of time to change. For a majority of people, car = Maruti. It will take a long time to see a significant change. Thanks to the herd mentality displayed by us. But it sure is changing. Maruti is on top now because they have the early entrant advantage.

I would like to remind you as to how Nokia is doing in India now compared to, say 5 years back. They were absolutely the best in the market. Had good handsets. Customer Care was awesome as well. But now they are struggling. This "Absolute Domination" by Maruti as the OP mentions might end soon.

Is Maruti really that cheap to maintain ? May be yes, but my experiences have taught me otherwise. Service/maintainance were expensive with both Swift and Baleno that I used extensively. But M800 was awesome.

[.sushilkumar]

Agree. there are various factors contributing to that.

a ) The MSIL made good use of subsidies provided initially in 80 & 90 aka license raj era. people may dispute this but this resulted in lower cost of land acquisition for them and other host of benefits. By the time other started to think about small cars, they were well settled and king.

b ) They Understood the Indian Mentality perfectly. They know a Average indian is more Concerned about " Kitna deti hai" ( translated as What;s F E ) than his Own Life.

c ) Any mechanic can open and cure a Maruti.

d ) The competitors has made a dent in their sales but those mattered really always stayed away from High volume market . for Eg Honda / Toyota .They have started to enter that volume drive market now but again with just one or two offering , they cannot compete with MSIL , who has car positioned at every price point with a diff of just 25- 30 K.

E ) a Vast service center network is a huge advantage for them .

F ) IMO they Still hasn;t faced real competition . Hyundai has just Age old santro and I 10 competing with their 5-6 models. Eon is launched just few months back to make any significant impact. compare that to MSIL who has atleast 6-7 diff Models Offerings south of 5 lakhs. Ditto for other manufacturer;s as well. tata has just indica , nano / Toyota has liva / mahindra is absent completely / Honda has jazz and now Brio and let us not talk about Germans or european ;s here.

G ) And the Biggest Plus point for them is the HERD mentality of indian public . My Neighbor bought a Maruti , i will also buy maruti

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

For a majority of people, car = Maruti. It will take a long time to see a significant change.

Absolutely true. The conductors/helpers of buses will shout "Hey Maruti" to intimidate you irrespective of what make/model your car is, as long as it is a small car.

[theMAG]

The single biggest reason Maruti sells: its service network. It is simply excellent: no attitude problems, reach, minimum response time, reasonable maintenance costs (not cheap). That they are able to scale up despite the volumes is an achievement by itself.

[rohan_iitr]

I agree that Maruti's market share is highest in the number of cars sold. But if we were to calculate Maruti's market share in terms of the cost of cars sold, the picture may not look so rosy. For example, 1 Innova sold by Toyota can be compared to 4 Alto's sold by Maruti, in terms of the price of the product.

It would be even more interesting if we were to calculate the profit made by the company by selling these cars. For example, what is the profit margin for Maruti on 1 Maruti Alto vs the profit margin for Toyota on 1 Innova.

May be the other car companies are not bothered by the wafer thin margins generated by entry level products and they prefer to keep Maruti occupied in this segment while they mint money in the more profitable segments.

Rohan

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by .sushilkumar

b ) They Understood the Indian Mentality perfectly. They know a Average indian is more Concerned about " Kitna deti hai" ( translated as What;s F E ) than his Own Life.
I just don't understand why everyone keep bashing MS for focusing more on mileage than safety. They have given the option of ABS and Airbags coupled with wider tyres in their higher end variants. For all the people who wish to opt for that do have an option. If these features are not standard across the range, that is because they want to price their cars aggressively and keep prices low. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Secondly, if it is the thin metal being used on their cars to reduce weight you are talking about, let me tell you that all Japanese and Korean cars are built the same way. I have never seen people bashing the new City or even the feather light Fluidic Verna. Then why blame MS??


G ) And the Biggest Plus point for them is the HERD mentality of indian public . My Neighbor bought a Maruti , i will also buy maruti

You have just stated all the pros to buy a Maruti Suzuki from A-F. How is the herd mentality even a reason for their cars to sell well?? They do offer ideal cars for our roads and back them with enough support to retain their customers and that is the reason their popularity.

I just could not help myself from commenting on these two points of yours. My answers in bold.

[.sushilkumar]

With due respect, my comments were never targeted at bashing Maruti . IMO they were taken in wrong context and I put them in the thread from a common man's perspective. "LIFE" comment was used in general & does't necessary mean that they make UNsafe cars. Anyhow that's a separate topic & will be complete OT on this thread. Above 5- 6 points are their strong point in my books and pls don't look for Hidden meanings.

Again , what they have to Indian auto industry is priceless and they are not only well respected for that but they are reaping benefits for same as well.

[avira_tk]

Maruti is probably the best example of make something that customers want instead of trying to persuade people to put their money on the product(s) after its made.

The new entrants may make more per car, but overheads for new showrooms and staff will eat into their higher margins. Percentage wise calculation is just good for hyperbole, the fact is that with 13 other players fighting for the remainder of the market none of the players have succeeded in taking Maruti head on. They are here to rule, atleast for another decade.Their ad line captures their focus.

[BUXX]

The fact remains that the Japs manufacture the best automotives. Period.

Well engineered, trouble free and assured service.

To top it all, Maruti market & price their vehicles for the mass market rather than for the premium niche ( Honda, Toyota etc)

[swiftnfurious]

The first & foremost reason for the domination is the number of products spanning the most sale'able segments. Not many other brands have presence in the so called "mass" segments with so many products to choose from. Again the number of years that Maruti has spent in India & widest A$$ ! They have the reputation of quite reliable machines which are SO cheap to own!

From what I understand, things will change a LOT with the next two generations. The new generations are willing / daring for a change & have started demanding MORE!

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

The first & foremost reason for the domination is the number of products spanning the most sale'able segments. Not many other brands have presence in the so called "mass" segments with so many products to choose from. Again the number of years that Maruti has spent in India & widest A$$ !

+1. I had been to their showroom a month back for enquiring on k10. They have a car for you at almost every Rs 50k, starting from Alto to k10 to Wagon R to Ritz to.....

Customers would love so much of choice at one place. I started with k10 and went to alto lxi, then to wagon r and next to ritz. All this in one hour.