[shortbread]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

I think you are making a mountain out of a molehill. Duster is not a new car. It was already being sold under a different brand in Europe. Whereas the mini SUV is a new car for Suzuki/Maruti. 2 years is not a big time in terms of product's conception.

Sorry mate your post reeks of a lot of ignorance so shall put things straight.

Suzuki tried the small crossover/compact SUV with the SX4 and fell on its face. The apparently new crossover is simply a redone SX4, its sold elsewhere as the SX4-scross and built alongside the previous SX4 iteration that's still being sold in a few markets. The new SX-4 (S cross) has been on sale for more than a year now in the UK and I have hardly seen any on the road. This might be new for maruti but is an old and recycled story for suzuki elsewhere.

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

For all the sounds about Hyundai, they have 5 hatchbacks, 1 sub 4m sedan and one normal sedan before jumping into the million rupee category. Their presence is yet to be there in the people mover segment (Ertiga) nor the one you are accusing Maruti about, mini SUV.

Lets not forget maruti had a 15 year lead over Hyundai! Globally, Hyundai arrived 50 years after Suzuki and despite that they outsell them by 2:1, that's before even taking Kia into account. Suzuki is nowhere close to Hyundai as a global player, whether its model line up, sales, profits, technology etc..etc...

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

As for things sliding, it has been predicted time and again when new models are launched from other manufacturers. "This will be the car taking the fight to Maruti'.

Other than the Elite i20, no other car has a sniff of the best sellers from Maruti. They know the Indian market better than anyone and they strive to support it unlike a few foreign brands.

I have no doubt about the dominance of maruti in India.

But there are 2 sides to the coin, because steadily suzuki's car sales are becoming a one trick pony. The moment the Indian car market slides for whatever reason or the labour strifes are sustained for a prolonged period Suzuki stands very exposed. Now they make money from just one country and use it to sustain a global operation. You don't have to go to business school to understand how brittle such an arrangement is.

The economics of the car industry are very very fluid so what car makers do are spread the bets. Be present in multiple markets with mix of cheaper high volume models and expensive lower volume models etc..etc... Suzuki on the other hand is shrinking elsewhere and hedging all its bets in one country. They withdrew form one of the worlds largest market North America because of lack of sales.

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

If you really want to see a stale Indian manufacturer, please look at Tata/Mahindra. Zest/Bolt may be new, improved models but their Vista DNA is very evident from the side profiles. XUV500 is a good model and they have done well with the Scorpio. But Quanto is a failure, Bolero is a decade old model. I don't think we need to even touch upon the Verito disaster.

Maruti have been doing stale from day one and have models that have DNA older than some members on this forum. Its just that they do it a lot better than Tata. Lets not forget the fact that market capitalization isn't set in stone or whenever the ToI media group try to use it against companies. Tata motors and Mahindra have a far safer business model than Suzuki according to me. Tata's strength lies in its Commercial vehicle business and JLR (especially taking into account its impending launches.) Mahindra dominate the UV sector and more importantly rules roost with tractors which is now a fledgling global operation. They are also slowly but surely turning Ssangyong around.

People need to take their heads out of fish bowls to understand the real picture. Maruti rules the Indian passenger car market, but that's just the 6th or 7th largest in the world. Suzuki's auto operations are quite fragile and I firmly believe inline for a hostile takeover by someone like VW (who already have 20% and despite all its efforts Suzuki cant get rid of them)

Like I mentioned before maruti is a one trick pony, and today is its time in the sun. What I worry is where's the shelter when the weather turns bad?!

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by shortbread

Sorry mate your post reeks of a lot of ignorance so shall put things straight.

And in general your post reeks of contempt and bias for Maruti & Suzuki as a company.

I am in India and all I care is how the company does here. Maruti have been going from strength to strength for many years now and are starting to explore territories which they have not really focused earlier.

Will they succeed? that is for time to tell.

Hyundai being a success story in America has nothing to do for the Indian buyers when their products are obviously 'Indianized' before they hit the market.

Thank you for your insights on a post which is 7 months old. Peace out!

[volkman10]

Maruti Suzuki June-quarter profit jumps 56 percent -lower costs, higher sales.

Maruti, controlled by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said profit for the April-June quarter was 11.9 billion rupees ($185.94 million), up from 7.6 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier.

During the quarter, higher volumes, cost reduction efforts, lower sales promotion expenses, and favourable foreign exchange helped improve the performance

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...w/48249717.cms

[volkman10]

Loeb Fund Buys Suzuki Stake as End to VW arbitration sees an end.

Shares in Suzuki Motor sped to record highs on Monday after Daniel Loeb, the US activist investor, disclosed that his fund had bought a stake in the Japanese carmaker!

Maruti Suzuki is introducing new models in higher-end segments and using a dominant dealer service network to increase market share in India, which is benefiting from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reform and infrastructure investment, Third Point said.
Even though competition is getting tougher in India, Suzuki is positive about future demand in the country because the Modi government is helping boost demand for entry-level vehicles, Managing Officer Masahiko Nagao told reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
Asked how Suzuki plans to interact with Loeb, who has a stated aim to use minority shareholding to obtain board seats, Nagao said that the company should be able to improve corporate value by following its mid-term plan.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...iscloses-stake

[libranof1987]

Came up on this rather refreshing read in the paper:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/autos/...eA9tGZioM.html

We've long heard Maruti's (or rather the Indian side of the story) on how Maruti-Suzuki happened; the article, an interview with the Osamu Suzuki, talks about Suzuki's version.

A quick read:

Entering an unknown country that had no manufacturing culture or supplier base at the time required guts and an appetite for risk, which the fiery Osamu Suzuki was known for. But was he ever, at any point, afraid?

“I asked Krishnamurthy if he would leave the project to me a 100%, because that was the condition with which I would go ahead. Krishnamurthy said ‘yes’ and entrusted everything to me. Also, (Indira) Gandhi used to trust Krishnamurthy and Bhargava and I told them both I would give my 100% if the project was left to me.

“More than car-making, I showed how to set up a plant, how the management was supposed to be done and the first time I visited India, I also visited the half-finished plant constructed by Sanjay Gandhi.”

Suzuki very quickly established a benchmark for manufacturing efficiency. Besides massive economies of scale, it was Osamu Suzuki’s legendary cost-cutting and frugal ways that made Maruti the most profitable car-maker in India by far.

So much for jest!

“Since we sell more cars in India than in Japan, I have thought about moving our corporate headquarters to India, but my family won’t let me!”

[volkman10]

Maruti Suzuki delivers highest stock return among global auto makers.

Maruti's market capitalisation (in dollar terms) has overtaken that of its parent Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), a rare feat achieved by an Indian company.

The robust performance of the Maruti Suzuki stock has made the company one of the top 20 global auto companies by market capitalisation.

The stock of Tesla Motors (P/E of 124), BYD (39.91) and Ferrari (26.92) are the three stocks trading at higher than Maruti's valuation.

Maruti Suzuki has delivered a return of 28 per cent in the last six months - the highest stock return among global auto makers with more than $5-billion market capitalisation.
The median return of the global auto makers in this category was -10.43 per cent

After Maruti's stock touched a record high of Rs 4,768 per share on Friday, its market capitalisation was $21.65 billion, which is $3.53 billion higher than Fiat Chrysler. However, Maruti's sales is just 6.3 per cent of Fiat's sales.

Lots of expectation from Maruti Suzuki in 2016.

It is due to the margin expansion, lower discounts and softer commodity prices. All these factors are expected to help Maruti achieve over 35 per cent profit growth between FY2015 and FY2018.
Beside this, the company is launching new products as well as more fuel options for the existing models. These products are well positioned to improve Maruti's share in segments where it has a weak presence. Analysts believe Maruti's market share to rise from 45 per cent in FY15 to 50 per cent by FY18.

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...akers/49887195

[volkman10]

Locally developed Maruti Suzuki's Vitara Brezza to be exported to select markets.




http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/50690112.cms

[amitc7]

I think some people are of the opinion maruti and suUki are different entities, this is not so

Baleno is to be exported to europe and around th world from india, there are dynamics to introducing new model, you just can't decide i will make a vitara today or a cappuccino tomorrow.

Maruti Suzuki (remember who has the majority) stake has to make decisions based on production and profitability also, there is nothing wrong in making profits (s-cross) but within market range.

Hyundai or Ford have good cars in their portfolio but send their trash over here, no fiestas, focus or mondeos. No ix35's, sonatas or velosters

But then 99% of our market is catered by the cars available, what a few of us enthusiasts want are not feasible or too expensive hence the product range in our country

[volkman10]

Suzuki releases sales figures of 2015.



Source: Suzuki news

[volkman10]

Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. (SMC) has asked its Indian unit to design and develop at least three car models from scratch.

Three cars, to be built from scratch, to test Maruti’s mettle.These products will be developed at the firm’s Rs2,500-crore R&D centre in Rohtak and will be ready in early 2017.

These products will be developed at the firm’s Rs.2,500-crore research and development centre in Rohtak, Haryana, that will be ready in early 2017. Maruti claims this will be the best of its kind in Asia, with facilities for testing, evaluation of vehicle designs, crash-tests, and 34 different tracks including a high-speed circuit that’s 5.9km long.

Developing the cars will mark the coming of age of Maruti engineers, who have thus far played second fiddle to their Japanese counterparts.

SMC expects India to become the world’s third largest passenger vehicle market by 2020 with annual sales of five million units. This could further grow to eight million units annually by 2025, the company said. With sales of 2.6 million passenger vehicles in 2015, India is currently the world’s fifth largest automobile market.

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/iE...tis-mettl.html

[romeomidhun]

Another blunder. What kind of reporting / proofing / editing are they doing?

Source: http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...ruary/51581139

While Suzuki was saying that the February global sales were 98% of the previous term (ie, 2% down), the source reports that the sales is down 98%!

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Another blunder. What kind of reporting / proofing / editing are they doing?

Here is the press release from Suzuki,

[coldice4u]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. (SMC) has asked its Indian unit to design and develop at least three car models from scratch.

Three cars, to be built from scratch, to test Maruti’s mettle.These products will be developed at the firm’s Rs2,500-crore R&D centre in Rohtak and will be ready in early 2017.


http://www.livemint.com/Companies/iE...tis-mettl.html

5 million units anually !! Where do we have the space for that many cars. Earlier it was just the cities. Now i find even the roads in smaller cities clogged!

[volkman10]

Suzuki's 2016 Sales,

Overseas production volume became the highest ever owing to the increase in countries including India, Hungary, and Thailand.

Source- Global Suzuki

[volkman10]

Maruti Suzuki creates new management level of executive VP.
The company has also scrapped designations such as managing executive officers and senior managing executive officers

Maruti, which aims to sell 2 million cars in India by 2020, has promoted six executives to the newly created position of executive vice-president.

The six executive vice-presidents are: Partho Banerjee, formerly in charge of Nexa and current head of service; Tarun Garg, earlier vice-president (sales) for Maruti Suzuki outlets and current head of Nexa; Ram Suresh Akella, who will now head domestic sales; D.D. Goyal in the finance department; and Vikram Khazanchi, P. Roy and Sunil Kakkar, who work in Maruti’s manufacturing operations.

All the changes are in line with the target of two million sales by 2020, according to people close to the matter

http://www.indiainfoline.com/article...0300318_1.html