[PrasannaDhana]

I am a typical middle class car buyer. I have had at least a couple Marutis over the decade. My marutis have instilled in me great trust and loyalty. I don't like risking my hard earned money on non vfm foreign brands, nor on brands with less than perfect A.S.S.

I don't care about build quality until my car drives 20+ kmpl of fuel.

Now there are millions like me, some in college, some in their first job, some planning retirement etc. Until we stop prefering Marutis, there is no peaking of their market share.

[Ramon]

Our garage looks like this today -

Maruti Suzuki 800 Std - 1995 - Pappas and our families first car.

Maruti Suzuki Alto Lx - 2004 - My wife's parents second car (first was a used Maruti 800) and now used by me and my wife for short trips

Maruti Suzuki A Star Zxi - 2011 - The first car used by my wife and me when we got married.

This was given to her parents in exchange for the Alto last year when we got our next car -

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Zxi+ - 2015 - The car we bought when our family expanded and we needed a bigger car for our growing needs.

Maruti Suzuki Wagon R AMT Option - 2016 - Pappas second car bought when we felt the 800 was no longer safe and suitable for long distance trips.

All these cars other than the A Star is in the same garage at home.

A total of 4 Marutis in one garage.

Only non Maruti we bought was an Indica Turbo DLG we bought in 2005 and that's the only car we sold.

It doesn't end there. Two houses in the same compound are let out by us. And their cars are - Wait for it....

Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire Vxi - 2010 &
Maruti Suzuki Swift Vdi - 2011

As long as Maruti has cars that suit our needs we will keep buying them and I don't see any time soon when Maruti doesn't have one car or the other which doesn't suit the needs of the average Indian. As the buyer preference shifts, Maruti has been quick to adapt and change - atleast from circa year 2000.

As long as that happens, Maruti is just going to keep climbing up.

[Mithrandir]

In my opinion, three main reasons which make MS a market leader in hatchback segment are:
1. Value for money machines
2. Excellent after sale service
3. Very good resale value
If any other car makers can beat them in these three areas, then they can challenge MS's dominance. Until then, MS will rule the hatchback segment. At present, only Hyundai looks like the one company which can beat MS in India. The biggest strength of MS is their loyal costumer base. Once you buy a MS, its hard to think about any thing else (mainly because of their hassle free ASS). My friend owned a MS Alto for 7 years. Recently, he checked out many entry and mid segment sedans for upgrade. At one stage, he even came very close to buying Hyundai Xcent. But, finally ended up buying a MS DZire. The reason he told me was their after sale service. Having said this, it will be exceedingly difficult for MS to further increase their market share. In last 10 years their competitors have grown.They are understanding the Indian market too.

[blackwasp]

I think the main reason of superb success and high market share of Maruti is not due to cheap/ fuel efficient cars / variety of cars etc, but rather the very strong sense of customer satisfaction. I've been working in a Maruti dealership for almost a year now and have seen and observed many things which many people won't know.

The way the complaint escalation matrix works is phenomenal. All dealerships are strictly told to keep complaints at the dealership level at max. The moment a customer calls up Maruti or says something negative about the sales/service experience during feedback, immediate action is taken - either warnings given or steep monetary fines for all people in the chain - Sales executive -> Team Leader -> Sales manager -> VP/GM etc and so on. This includes false commitment of delivery, compulsory accessories etc .

Even today, when ever we ( auto enthusiasts ) discuss cars, we may say that Maruti makes flimsy cars ( for example ), or is using fiat engines or not giving us a powerful engined car, etc but I've rarely anyone discuss bad experiences of a Maruti car. From a humble Maruti 800 owner to a Kizashi owner, all of them are provided same service. And it's this why Maruti is here to stay.

[Anuruddhs]

maruti-suzuki is still not operating in lot of segments ,may be due to lack of engines but once its enter in that segment it mostly had a great product which people trust and love with minimal fail so i believe Maruti-suzuki still has enough potential to increase the market share by launching some products in areas where its not playing at all till now . Vittara breeza and baleno are great example for dominance in new segment where they are entered first time .

[PearlJam]

Yes, I think it will be more and more difficult to incrementally improve market share from here.

However, from a larger scheme of things, I would say that "market share" is irrelevant here. I would look at the stock price as a better indicator. In other words, profit growth.

Maruti makes it's money not only from selling cars, but also from servicing, spares, insurance, True Value, road assistance, etc. Even if sales numbers remain the same, or even if market share declines a little, the question to ask would be "are they making more money today than yesterday?". If they can make more revenue by hiking prices (which they already do because of their strong pricing power - every year there's a price increase), stock holders would be more than happy. An increase in market share may or may not result in increase in profits - see Tata Motors (without the JLR)

For the record, the Maruti stock has given fantastic returns in the last few years - much much more than increase in market share.

[landcruiser123]

Maruti is king in terms of volume, but to dominate a market 'completely,' they still need crack the remaining segments- D segment, SUV etc

That being said, Maruti is king and will remain king for decades (unless there is a drastic change in technologies)

[anurag.somani]

The dominance of Maruti Suzuki is a reflection of the values and aspirations of the Indian populace.

At the risk of generalization this is what Maruti Suzuki (populace) stands for -
Reliable & after-sales support (risk-free), low running costs (thrift), good purchase price & resale value (return-on-investment) and widely recommended (social acceptance).

Other brands may excel at fun-to-drive (adventorous), premiumn build & interiors (luxurious), hi-end technology (futuristic) and life-style vehicles (exclusivity).
The appetite, and hence the market-pie for these is smaller than Maruti Suzuki.

The sales chart, in a way mirror the society & their preferences.

[King_pin09]

Well my experience with MSIL is a mixed bag rather.

I owned an Indica Vista earlier. It was from the revised batches of the first gen car (i.e., after addressing few niggles experienced with the initial batch) and a product on which the Tata’s rested high hopes. Each time I went to its service, I would carry a print out showing a list of issues with the car. This tradition began right from the first service which occurred on the 8th day after delivery, till its last service (19th visit) after completing 8 years.

After switching over to the Ciaz, the car has undergone the first and second services so far. It felt somewhat unusual/ unfamiliar replying to the usual question asked by the service advisors, "Any problems in the car, Sir?" as "Nothing".

Absolutely no complaints except for the MSIL trademark "rattles", which I think, I have to stay with for the years to come.

All in all, MSIL wins my vote for providing a reliable and worry free car. I do not care as what their market share is, but I would surely recommend MSIL product to a potential buyer.

[AbhisheKulkarni]

We (my dad) had a 2011 WagonR for about 4.5 years. That was our first car and hence it had to be a "Maruti". Our experience with the car was unremarkable, as in there was nothing noteworthy. There were zero issues with the car and all services were the usual affair - nothing out of the ordinary. The service experience was good and there was never a cause for complaint. So while all this would be a very encouraging experience to warrant staying within the Maruti family, we did not feel so.

In 2015, the WagonR was sold only to be replaced by a Honda Brio AT (and we also bought a VW GT TSI and a Tata Tiago as individual cars for other family members).

The only factor that put us off during our Maruti experience was the mediocre product quality. Please note that this is a purely personal opinion and is not intended to be offensive to existing/aspiring owners.

There was nothing special about the car, or at the time, about any of the other products in the Maruti stable. I did check out the Baleno after it was launched and the build quality seemed flimsy, especially the sheet metal quality. The only Maruti product which I feel can hold it's ground against other competitors when measured wrt. the quality factor - is the S-Cross. It's the ONLY great quality product in the MSIL stable, in my opinion.

And hence I feel that this tidal wave of market share increases from MSIL is a phase. It will pass when more and more aspiring buyers become discerning enough to judge the product on it's merit (of quality) than the other factors which makes people (and even us) buy Maruti cars. TML is making big strides ahead and the Tiago is superior in every aspect to the Celerio. What India lacked in the past is healthy competition and I feel TML can step-up to compete with MSIL in not just product quality (which they already have a upper hand in), but also price. Hyundai is doing a good job of competing anyway.

The days of putting out poor quality products and making a killing out of them are short lived, as the market matures and more competitors join the fray with better products. Maruti may be the best selling OEM in the country, but WE will never touch one again - unless we consider the S-Cross (or any other similarly good quality product that they manage to offer going forward).

[Nav-i-gator]

"Perception".

1. Maruti was the Bajaj in initial years in India, a craze. The generation of that times is still the decision maker or at least a big decision influencer when it comes to buying a car, esp the first car in any family.

2. Japan = quality. Anything Japanese is associated with good quality (even Japanese people have an image of good natured, patriotic, simple and hard working folks, isn't it?). Association with Japanese suzuki at that time was a strong perception builder

3. (Connected to point 1 & 2) Lineage. Just like arranging marriage for your children, you look for a companion with strong "roots", who is successful but down - to -earth, rich but frugal, modern but with strong traditions and respect for elders. It's like - I know him for a long time, I know his family too. He is an all - round package. He may not be the best looking or the richest of the lot, but will care for you, save money and will be with you forever, kind of argument.

Majority of marriages in India are still arranged marriages. And MS is the most sought after bride/groom out there.

And MS is changing too now. More and more models are contemporary and relatively better looking than the old gen. The market share will be difficult to increase further, but not impossible. Good Luck MS.

[Car-go-man]

Originally Posted by GTO

The Creta is an RBI-approved money-printing machine ; trust me,
Maruti is watching that profit-heavy SUV with envy.

And you answered why they're not able to make an impression in the SUV segment-

Originally Posted by GTO

They aren't even able to make some good big engines - example, something to match Hyundai's excellent 1.6L diesel.

[anand_lukose]

Although Maruti enjoyed first mover advantage a decade or two or three ago, We have to give them credit for taking over market share in newer segments. Ciaz, Vitara Brezza and Baleno are examples where they just ate a large chunk of the pie despite not being first movers in those segments. Waited and watched, understood what consumers wanted and arrived late at the party in style !

It will be interesting to see what Maruti follows from now on. I have been critical of the Nexa strategy till a few months ago and realized its reasoning after seeing the upcoming product pipelines. Converting the first and second time Maruti buyers who will upgrade to a better car and thereby having Nexa products. At the same time, attracting the first time car buyer through the Maruti offerings.

Maruti is catching them young and holding them for eternity ! It is a very difficult thing to do considering how fickle minded we consumers get.

However, there have been many instances where dominance have not sustained. The R&D pipeline has to be solid and considering Suzuki is lagging behind the electric and diesel race, it is imperative that they focus on it. If someone in the next few years offers hybrids that run many more per litre of fuel, a lot of us are going to ditch maruti in a flash.

[jpcoolguy]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

Now, considering this, if more dealers do line up with Hyundai, then it only grows its network stronger and additional dealerships should bring in more car sales too.

But still, I think Hyundai has made peace with the fact that position #1 is not there for the taking any time soon and that there is no point going aggressively for it by compromising margins.
Hence they now concentrate on affiliating their brand name with premium-ness (vis-a-vis MS) and premium products command a premium price.

One more thing not in favour of Hyundai is that their Chennai facility is already running at full capacity, close to 94% or whereabouts, catering to both domestic and export markets. Remember, Hyundai is still the leading exporter of cars from India.

Now, only if they can expand their production capacity they will be able to challenge the leader. Also, they have to find a replacement for Eon in the entry level segment, may be the upcoming Santra nameplate will take care of that.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by jpcoolguy

One more thing not in favour of Hyundai is that their Chennai facility is already running at full capacity, close to 94% or whereabouts, catering to both domestic and export markets. Remember, Hyundai is still the leading exporter of cars from India.

Hyundai is reducing its exports to cater to fluctuation in local demand.
They were the largest exporters of automobiles from India in 2015, but are second to Ford in 2016. The third and fourth exporters VW and MSIL are also not far behind.

Rahul