[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by Col Mehta

Six out of top ten selling cars are from Maruti stable. No surprises but their new Dzire's numbers are just unprecedented! With almost 50% market share, they truly enjoy the lion share as depicted earlier.

I wouldn't buy Maruti cars. But if there is something that I admire them for, it is the fact that they are honest about what they sell, and never overprices any of their cars. Even when they could and would be able to get away with it. In stark contrast to the likes of Duster, Innova etc., Maruti has never hiked prices just because a particular model is selling well.

So for a Maruti customer, he is always getting the best bang for his buck. No wonder they sell well.

[volkman10]

37% of global car sales take place in BRICS countries!

[feluda86]

Surely 1 model accounting for more than 10% of the total cars shipped in this country cannot be good news for the industry. It is good for Suzuki and Maruti but detrimental to the Indian auto industry as a whole. Slowly we might see only 1 or 2 car makers in India with other having to move out.

One such OEM - Honda makes things very clear (and correctly so) in the following report:

http://www.livemint.com/Industry/RhS...India-Hon.html

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by feluda86

Surely 1 model accounting for more than 10% of the total cars shipped in this country cannot be good news for the industry.

This situation shows how a company can bring / enhance a product that satisfy 10% of the Indian customers, and others' inability to do that.

Originally Posted by volkman10

37% of global car sales take place in BRICS countries!

I'm glad that China is a Left-hand-drive market. Otherwise, those cheap copycat manufacturers would have just send their models to India as it is!

But that tax structure is applicable to other manufacturers as well!

Originally Posted by feluda86

On the other hand, manufacturers like Honda, Toyota Ford, GM and to a certain extent FCA are known world wide for their bigger engines and cars (when put in an Indian context).

But in their home turf Japan where the "smallest" cars were the kings once, Suzuki is playing the under dog, where Honda and Toyota dominates!

Originally Posted by feluda86

The amount of research and modifications they need to invest in to cater to Indian market (which also is cost sensitive) has prevented them from taking us seriously.

Then why to complaint? If they are not ready to invest, then don't expect to harvest serious money from Indian market.

[namanchaudhary]

Originally Posted by volkman10

37% of global car sales take place in BRICS countries!

Attachment 1684666

Meaning around 29% of all the global car sales take place in China And this is when chinese manufacturers haven't even started dominating other markets like the Japenese, Germans and americans

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by feluda86

One such OEM - Honda makes things very clear (and correctly so) in the following report:

http://www.livemint.com/Industry/RhS...India-Hon.html

They are not happy with the changing tax structures - and the same was expressed by other companies like Toyota as well. It is extremely tough to make long term decisions with such a scenario.

Honda would be particularly upset about the cess because their next big launch on the cards is the Honda HRV - and it would need to be priced in the higher tax bracket now.

[feluda86]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

This situation shows how a company can bring / enhance a product that satisfy 10% of the Indian customers, and others' inability to do that.

Agreed to a certain extent but you have to agree that the Suzuki heavily benefits from Indian tax structure which favors small cars. They hardly have any "big" cars in the international market - same cars with different engines and in some cases same engines. Suzuki is a master of small cars world wide and that has helped them make India their biggest market.

On the other hand, manufacturers like Honda, Toyota Ford, GM and to a certain extent FCA are known world wide for their bigger engines and cars (when put in an Indian context). The amount of research and modifications they need to invest in to cater to Indian market (which also is cost sensitive) has prevented them from taking us seriously. To add to their misery now, the ever confusing GST favors small cars even more. India's habit of re-inventing the wheel is preventing successful global models from launching here while Suzuki continue to sell big numbers.

Rules favoring a one horse race always result in mediocre performances with drop in quality and that is what we are witnessing in India.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by feluda86

Agreed to a certain extent but you have to agree that the Suzuki heavily benefits from Indian tax structure which favors small cars.

To a certain extent, yes. Suzuki fights tooth and nail for the Indian market because their survival depends on it.

However - speaking of this particular segment - the compact sedan one - it has competition from Hyundai, Honda, Ford, TATA, Mahindra and Volkswagen.

All of 6 players, 4 of them big international companies much bigger than Suzuki, trying to benefit from the same policies and tax structures - and still Maruti Suzuki being able to sell more than twice what all the others managed to do combined - that speaks volumes about how they've got the product right for the target market.

[varunswnt]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Then why to complaint? If they are not ready to invest, then don't expect to harvest serious money from Indian market.

In very same context, they have invested heavily to make
1. Cars lighter in new generation
2. Streamline operational costs by having same diesel engine across cars from Ignis to Scross, infact R&D to produce/assemble another OEM's engine
3. Same underlying car internals not visible to eye
4. Strictly playing around rule books to restrict us from getting better engines or better cars e.g. Ciaz/Ertiga with 1.4 K-series, Scross/Ertiga with 1.3 MJ
5. Playing around with names like Vitara Brezza and not getting actual Vitara
6. Creating overlapping segments and not providing enough room for competitive market, infact again restricting us from getting better cars in various segments which has resulted in inflation of price for all segments and leaving us very less room to upgrade
7. Long resistance to introduce safety features, whereas they being market leader should have been torch bearer, but alas they want us to only see mileage figures

Other manufacturers are equally to blame for allowing Maruti to flourish for so long, that now they have started to feel the heat so badly, that they are forced to rethink their decisions of existence in our market.

This is strictly my opinion.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by varunswnt

1. Cars lighter in new generation

This is a world-wide trend to make cars lighter for efficiency. Can't single out Maruti.

Originally Posted by varunswnt

2. Streamline operational costs by having same diesel engine across cars from Ignis to Scross, infact R&D to produce/assemble another OEM's engine
3. Same underlying car internals not visible to eye

Common platform sharing is also world-wide trend. VW, Renault... the list is big.

Originally Posted by varunswnt

4. Strictly playing around rule books to restrict us from getting better engines or better cars e.g. Ciaz/Ertiga with 1.4 K-series, Scross/Ertiga with 1.3 MJ

If people are queuing to buy these so-called "under-powered' cars and only a few are looking at cars like 1.6MJD S-Cross, we can cry foul but can't blame them too much.

Originally Posted by varunswnt

5. Playing around with names like Vitara Brezza and not getting actual Vitara

Nobody is buying Brezza because it has the "Vitara" tag. It's the package that makes Brezza a super hit.

Originally Posted by varunswnt

6. Creating overlapping segments and not providing enough room for competitive market, infact again restricting us from getting better cars in various segments which has resulted in inflation of price for all segments and leaving us very less room to upgrade

Creating room for whom? Competitors? Will any company do that just for the sake of competition? Maruti / non-Maruti, they are not here for charity.

Originally Posted by varunswnt

7. Long resistance to introduce safety features, whereas they being market leader should have been torch bearer, but alas they want us to only see mileage figures

Long resistance - yes. But they were the one to start offering ABS and Airbags as option in all models, in lower segment cars. Not even Hyundai was doing that.

[varunswnt]

Dzire sales are eye-opener and a case for analysis.

1. Dzire beats Alto twice in row, is it the next Alto of India?
2. Ciaz's move to NEXA, has made Non-NEXA customers to consider Dzire as ultimate Sedan. Also aging Swift is playing its role in diverting customers to Dzire. I guess, we will see drop in numbers with launch of new Swift.
3. If Ciaz, even after NEXA move is sustaining 5k+ figures, then it seems that its a choice of car mainly for Tier-1 cities, this should support my theory.
4. With amount of Maruti private cabs (Wagon-R, Swift, Dzire) being preferred over TATA cabs, still we don't see same argument while buying Maruti as TATA. If Maruti was always VFM then why the sudden rise? Has TATA gained premium tag and lost VFM tag? I still don't understand our market.

Jeep Compass doing good numbers based on their reach, presence and awareness. We really need such good global cars, we are also entitled for global products, it shouldn't just remain restricted to Electronic market.

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

This is a world-wide trend to make cars lighter for efficiency. Can't single out Maruti.

Commenting on this would be really technical which I believe I am not right person. But we all know of R&D by Maruti to dilute international cars to make them VFM for India, case in point being Swift platform with unstable structure revealed by GNCAP. Hope I am proved wrong this time with newer cars.

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Common platform sharing is also world-wide trend. VW, Renault... the list is big.

Creating room for whom? Competitors?

Yes, they do, they have same segment cars on same platform but for sister brands (Their platforms have 1 hatch, 1 sedan/1 estate and 1 SUV/Crossover/MUV for each sister brand). Also the amount of engineering went into it is also huge (NCAP for developed nations) which you would also agree. Maruti Suzuki on other hand have no such liberty of having same car platform across sister brands and they don't even cater to very larger audience, hence we have Ignis/Swift/Dzire/Baleno all competing for same Indian Pie.

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

If people are queuing to buy these so-called "under-powered' cars and only a few are looking at cars like 1.6MJD S-Cross, we can cry foul but can't blame them too much.

Will any company do that just for the sake of competition? Maruti / non-Maruti, they are not here for charity.

This exactly shows they are not here for charity and the same stick can't be used for other Car manufacturers. If they can't sustain losses on 1.6 MJD, then why keep expectations from FIAT Linea or from any other OEM for great cars. Maruti will always play around Indian rule books, they are not brave enough to break them, they will remain leader by conquering segments created by others

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Nobody is buying Brezza because it has the "Vitara" tag. It's the package that makes Brezza a super hit.

They tried to leverage Vitara's legend to market Brezza, nothing wrong in their approach, absolutely fine. But being a market leader that too by huge margin and still they need to take this approach, shows how unsure they are about us. Rest be assured, in next gen, Brezza will drop Vitara moniker and we will get Vitara as new car, again smart move played by Maruti on us, how are we supposed to react.

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Long resistance - yes. But they were the one to start offering ABS and Airbags as option in all models, in lower segment cars. Not even Hyundai was doing that.

We all know Maruti's reply to GNCAP, they are atleast doing now for our Govt. came up with mandatory safety rules and to little or no extent by other OEM by trying to be safer than Maruti and creating a niche for themselves, had it not been for Govt. we would have only kept hoping.

Exciting time ahead for our market, is it? Hope so!

[ashokabs]

The car sales figures are a commentary on the perception and demands of the domestic buyer. What seems to matter most to buyers is gadgets, accessories, gilt and glitter, mileage and acceleration etc. For example, Hyundai has tried to take advantage of this by offering sub-standard cars loaded with glitz and accessories - Verna competing with Honda City. At a certain level of discretional expenditure people are already making better choices. Hyundai has also changed tack now and the Verna is much improved in the critical areas though the attempt is still to lure the customer based on 'accessorization' as value for money.

Most buyers are not very conscious of safety (both car and road) and pollution. Maruti Suzuki has got away with selling cars that look good are touted for their mileage and service quality. Sure things seem to be changing but that has been under pressure of competition and not as a leader setting trends and expectations. In both areas of concern in India they have been more followers than leaders. I must give them credit for taking the initiative to introduce manual 'automatic' gear boxes in the entry level cars. This will certainly be a boon for first time drivers and those hassled by the horrendous traffic. Hopefully it might lead to some improvement on the fuel efficiency!

It is my hope that in the next 10 years, if India sees the economy growing well, the trend towards cars which are solid, safe, less polluting might well pick up.

[Arjun Reddy]

Originally Posted by GTO

Maruti is an old hand, yet it has the aggressiveness of a newbie.

This is so true. Over the last 3 days I have seen Maruti Dzire advertisements every day in the newspapers. For heavens sake this product does 30k copies month after month and doesn't require the ads. I haven't seen anything like this before.

Maruti is on such an aggressive mode on the Dzire.

[volkman10]

More of the BRICS, Customer buying preference and market share,

[gopalnt]

WagonR seems to be the Ashish Nehra in Maruti's lineup. Even the new Grand i10 is not able to beat it.