[TusharK]

Maruti Suzuki is set to revamp its sales and service network in India. This will include adding new True Value pre-owned car outlets, Nexa service stations and refurbishing existing showrooms.

Maruti aims to expand their pre-owned car business by adding 150 new True Value outlets. They also plan to add 60-70 dedicated Nexa service outlets across India. Additionally, traditional Maruti Suzuki dealerships will be refurbished by March 2018.

Source: ET Auto

[PraNeel]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Maruti Suzuki is set to revamp its sales and service network in India. This will include adding new True Value pre-owned car outlets, Nexa service stations and refurbishing existing showrooms.

Thanks for the info Tushar.
This is just a gimmick and nothing else IMO. Maruti needs to tackle the increasing service costs and slipping standards than revamping their showrooms and adding True Value outlets.
Cheap and easy maintenance is the USP of Maruti and they should understand that there are manufacturers like Ford which are offering lesser maintenance costs. If the perception sets in customer minds that Maruti service is expensive (It actually is and increasing!!) their service centers will be in for a rude shock. The sheer sales numbers might shield them to an extent though.

[anurag.somani]

IMHO, Maruti is going overboard with an image makeover as a premium player.

With sub-par build quality (VW, Ford are ahead), average interiors (benchmark = Hyundai), lackluster diesels (almost everybody outclasses Maruti in this), AMT gearboxes; now a premium pricing & increasing service-cost - there is only so far that a loyal customer base will take you.

Let us hope Maruti is not blinded by the recent successes - once the perception of an Indian consumer changes, it is hard to rebuild.

History is often a useful reminder; when Indica was launched (1999) the goodwill of Tata's was such that it garnered 1,15,000 bookings in the first week itself.

[aryayush]

I don’t understand the logic there. The company’s USP has always been its large dealer network and value-for-money pricing. Everything else—like the exterior and interior design and quality of its cars, the reliability of the vehicles, its safety standards, the experience of purchasing a Maruti Suzuki car—has always been subpar. This has kept a large number of customers away.

Sure, Maruti Suzuki has the largest market share by a wide margin in India, but does that mean it should stop trying to increase it and be content with what it has got? If the company recognises its failings and is trying to revamp its operations to gear them more towards bringing in the premium customers it is currently missing out on (who, incidentally, tend to buy products with higher margins), where is the harm in that?

I assume that no one at the company is stupid, so it is unlikely that it will do things to take itself out of the consideration of the sub 4-metre buyers in the country. But when you’ve captured 50% of the market, the next logical step (that far too many risk averse and staid corporations fail to take) is to go after the other 50%, even if it is a challenge to retain the qualities that made you appeal to the first fifty.