[400notout]

15 new models!!?? New models over existing ones or are we talking about All-new Swift/Dzire, next generation wagon-r/celerio etc ??

Originally Posted by GTO

I think you underestimate Maruti. For the last 10 years, people have been talking of Maruti's decline. Even after all the global biggies came & launched their mass market products in India....well, Maruti actually INCREASED its market share.

Agreed with every thing you pointed. Having said that, I feel Maruti has had its share of lack of competition and a lot of first mover advantage.

Marutis success has a lot to do with the failure/downfall of Tata/GM and a late reaction from Honda. (whereas a more competent Hyundai has reached 40k)

The Alto(800/K10) and Swift+Dzire makes upto 60-70k of its annual numbers.

The Alto, a first -time buyers car if I may say, took over from the old M800 and has had the Nano and Eon to challenge it.
Where the Nano suffers from an inferiority complex the Eon does a respectable 8k but does not offer anything more than better looks than
the hideous Alto. The Datsun go is actually pretty expensive for a cheap car that it looks from inside.

People buying the Alto buy it for (I ASSume)
a) Trust in Maruti brand
b) Affordability and ease of maintenance.
c) All other brands (barring Tata maybe) have an expensive halo around them.

I was hell bent on buying an Alto in 2009 as my first car as I shared the same perception that no. of service centres ownership costs etc.
(against my initial wishes, but after a convincing test drive, I settled with a Chevy Spark)

So I feel that there is no real challenge for Maruti here, its job is made easier by the competition.

Similarly Swift/Dzire would have been seeing different days if Tata would have gotten over its Indica hangover earlier.

My point is Maruti did well, and is doing well and will continue to do so but the competition will not always be a suicidal GM or a lazy Tata.

Honda came back with the Diesel engine but are now shooting themselves in the foot with the Brio hangover. By overpricing Mobilio, they only made Ertiga look stronger.

The 30kmpl figures (anticipated) will always keep swift in the reckoning,
but ones the safety norms comes into place, lets see how all the manufacturers prepare themselves for that.
Toyota as already jumped into the safety bandwagon alongwith volkswagen its a pity they dont have a decent product other than the innova.
Once these regulations are in place, lets subtract those insane omni/eeco numbers (at the least).

The Kwid, if priced well, might make things interesting at the entry level atleast in urban areas.
Though renault never came across as a brand to be taken that seriously, I feel they are on to something here.
The CMF-A module cars might do enough for Renault to do atleast M&M numbers

Hyundai will only add numbers with an Mpv completing its profile.

Tata with project pelican and the kite twins has still not let go of its A/B segment ambitions. Also its trying to regain the ground its lost to M&M (Hexa/Raptor).

If Honda come up with a better looking affordable (cheap) brand than the Brio, it might make the impact it always intended to.

Also people have realised that owning a ford is not that expensive as it was in the 90s/2000s. It only depends on how many cars Ford really wants to sell.

So a lot of Marutis ambitions depends on how the other players play.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by 400notout

So a lot of Marutis ambitions depends on how the other players play.

Well, I think you got it the wrong way around.

• Small car = Alto.
• Small Automatic Car = Celerio
• Compact small hatchback = WagonR
  
• B segment hatch = Swift.
• Compact sedan = DZire.
• Compact UV = Ertiga.
  
  What are the other segments?
  
  
• Compact crossover = Ecosport. A gap left out in the Maruti portfolio which they intend to fill soon enough with the Vitara Brezza.
  
• Crossover = Duster. Another gap left out in the Maruti portfolio. Maruti wanted a share with the S-Cross. If they can't have it, expect the Vitara to come sooner than predicted.
  
• C segment sedan = City. Another gap in the Maruti portfolio which they could never fill with the overpriced Baleno, and the understated SX4. However, they have shown their aggression with Ciaz SHVS. I have a feeling they will soon have a go at the iVTec with their boosterjet range of engines.
  
• Premium hatchback = Elite i20. Another gap in the Maruti portfolio since they never had anything bigger than Swift to attach the i20. Again, Maruti is readying the Baleno for that attack now.
  
• MUV = Innova. Again, another gap left in the Maruti portfolio and the rumours are already strong that they are working on a challenger for the Innova.

All the small car segments that sell are either ruled by Maruti or going to be challenged by Maruti soon. ALL. Now that is some aggression!

So, like I said- The ambitions of other players depends on how Maruti plays!

[ashlil]

Even if you put the airbag and other safety equipment, that will not avoid accidents.

ET Auto (Full Interview)

Brilliant logic! It is like saying providing quinine will not prevent malaria, hence lets not provide quinine when they have malaria. There are so many open sewers anyway!

Do these people not see the flaw in their argument? Or they advance these arguments knowing the flaws?

[400notout]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

All the small car segments that sell are either ruled by Maruti or going to be challenged by Maruti soon. ALL. Now that is some aggression!

Never denied Marutis No. 01 status, nor am i saying it will decline.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

• What are the other segments?
• Compact crossover = Ecosport. A gap left out in the Maruti portfolio which they intend to fill soon enough with the Vitara Brezza.
• Crossover = Duster. Another gap left out in the Maruti portfolio. Maruti wanted a share with the S-Cross. If they can't have it, expect the Vitara to come sooner than predicted.
• C segment sedan = City. Another gap in the Maruti portfolio which they could never fill with the overpriced Baleno, and the understated SX4. However, they have shown their aggression with Ciaz SHVS. I have a feeling they will soon have a go at the iVTec with their boosterjet range of engines.
• Premium hatchback = Elite i20. Another gap in the Maruti portfolio since they never had anything bigger than Swift to attach the i20. Again, Maruti is readying the Baleno for that attack now.
• MUV = Innova. Again, another gap left in the Maruti portfolio and the rumours are already strong that they are working on a challenger for the Innova.

Exactly! so with a bit of innovation the competition CAN edge past/ dodge MS or atleast have advantage till MS catches up.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

So, like I said- The ambitions of other players depends on how Maruti plays!

In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king

[hybridpetrol]

Quoting from the ET Auto Full interview of SMC president:

Even if you put the airbag and other safety equipment, that will not avoid accidents.

Whenever I go to India - once or twice (every) few months - I see sometimes animals on the roads and pedestrians on the highway. Unless these conditions are taken care of, no matter how good airbags you add ... (safety) will be a challenge.

Our Maruti Suzuki chairman, and Suzuki president voice the same thoughts, when it comes to launching safety equipment in India.

Of course, there will be animals on road, possible that pedestrians are jaywalking on the highway - but, in all the countries where airbags are already mandatory, has MS / Suzuki made sure that infrastructural problems such as these have been taken care, before they put in these safety equipment?
If the infrastructure is not so good, thus making driving more dangerous, that is the place where the additional safety equipment would play a major role.
Consider this:
When driving on a highway at 80 kmph, buffaloes suddenly enter the highway. The driver of the car in front suddenly floors the brake, and it stops instantly (provided ABS works perfectly). The car behind, could not stop in time, and thus enters the first car from the rear. Case being this, would the person driving the second car, or the people seated in the rear of the first car, voice the same opinion as the Suzuki / MS heads?
Wouldn't having airbags become a matter of life or death for these people?

We all know that, safety equipment is not introduced in India, because our Government has not made it mandatory (Lobbyists are part of democracy, you know). So please do not give such justifications through these meaningless statements.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

Quoting from the ET Auto Full interview of SMC president:

Our Maruti Suzuki chairman, and Suzuki president voice the same thoughts, when it comes to launching safety equipment in India.

I'd love to know more about the cars that are used for their transportation on their India visits. They should travel in an Alto on Indian roads atleast for one full day before making such ridiculous statements.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

I'd love to know more about the cars that are used for their transportation on their India visits. They should travel in an Alto on Indian roads atleast for one full day before making such ridiculous statements.

It really does not matter whether they travel the Indian roads on a super luxury sedan or Alto, or just bicycled all the way.
Would you believe that the Suzuki president decides not to provide airbags on cars, solely on the fact that he found animals on the road during his few hours travel?
My opinion is that, such sort of reasoning were conveyed to them as a one-sided study in the form of a colourful PPT.
Additional reasons they might come up, why airbags are not relevant in India:
a) Most people use two wheelers, autos, which are less safer than cars. Any car is safer than no car.
b) Roads are congested and movement of vehicles is slow.
c) Lorries do not even have seat belts.

[romeomidhun]

15 models in 5 years? I am not able to digest it.

My guess:

1. Baleno (2015)
2. Ertiga facelift (2015)
3. YBA (2016)
4. Vitara (2016)
5. IM-4 (2016)
6. WR-7 seater (2017)
7. Alto (2017)
8. Swift (2017)
9. DZire (2018)
10. Ertiga (2018)
11. RX (Innova competitor) (2018)
12. New Omni?
13. New Eeco?
14. New Gypsy?
15. LCV?

[RavenAvi]

Maruti-Suzuki is on a roll. It's new products, the Baleno & the Vitara Brezza, have tasted enormous success in the Indian market.

According to the home-grown auto behemoth, the demand for Maruti cars is expected to go only upwards in the near future, so they have asked their component vendors and suppliers to gear up for big investments in the future, as it foresees and builds towards achieving a compounded annual growth of at least 10% every year till 2020 by manufacturing 2 million cars per year, as a part of it's ambitious Vision 2.0 strategy.

Also, to meet the demand for it's two new bestsellers, Maruti-Suzuki has announced an increase in production capacity for both cars from this fiscal year onwards - the Vitara Brezza will see a 30-50% increase in production to 1,20,000 units per annum, while the Baleno will see a 10-15% increase to 1,65,000 units per year.

Addressing 200-300 vendors in Bangkok towards the end of April, Maruti executives said the company will be commissioning close to half a million capacity in the next three to four years, according to several people who attended the meeting.

A vendor who supplies to multiple auto makers told ET that while there is a word of caution from other major car makers over growth forecast, Maruti appears certain about the future and is encouraging its vendors to expand capacity and set up new plants where required. "Amid all the uncertainties, the outlook was optimistic from the management. The tone was go ahead and invest, we will meet the targets, the pipeline is of 10-15 products, we are expanding network and the brand is strong," said another vendor who attended the meeting.

"The new plant in Gujarat is coming on stream in January of 2017 with the first vehicle Baleno. And, the company is likely to add the new generation Swift as its new car at Gujarat. The company is likely to kick in the next phase of another 2.5 lakh units within the next two to three years," said one of the vendors. Maruti's Japanese parent, Suzuki Motor, has invested close to Rs 2,500 crore at a facility in Becharaji, Gujarat and Maruti will source vehicles from the plant at cost.

And looking at the growth trajectory planned, Suzuki is expected to further infuse another Rs 2,500 crore in India manufacturing by 2018-19. In the past four years, while industry volumes have just grown 4% to 2.78 million in fiscal 2016, the makers of the Swift and Dzire have expanded volume by 30%, to 1.3 million vehicles from 1 million at the end of fiscal 2012.

ET