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-   -   Is India driving Suzuki’s growth Or We as Indians compromise when buying a Maruti? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/68666-india-driving-suzuki-s-growth-we-indians-compromise-when-buying-maruti-4.html)

Hey this is another thread gone awry!!

It is perfectly understandable why Maruti-Suzuki is where it is today! They have a portfolio that a vast majority considers fit for them-

• Looks (varying from cute to acceptable, though some are downright detested, again varies with the individual)
• Cost (A car for 80 - 90% of the buyers' budget)
• Very good mileage in all their products targeted at the budget conscious buyers
• Excellent A.S.S (very few heartaches considering the number of cars they sell)
• Reach (Service points as ubiquitous as ATM)

Any wonder they are the market leaders? Any wonder why Suzuki's bread winner is India? I don't think so!

The bone of contention is that the products tend to rattle and age faster than a car of similar age from a different brand. Some products do not agree for the few safety conscious buyers owing to build quality or lack of safety features. Of course a valid points, and Maruti-Suzuki better do something about it- if other manufacturers fix themselves up to similar levels (in the few points I have mentioned), then MUL is in trouble.

Lets not compare a, say Fiat or Hyundai or Tata offering here please that is not what this thread is intended for IMHO!

Most of the Maruti products are only average in quality, but the company as well as the products are reliable. TMaruti understand the Indian market well and provide the best value for the hard earned money spend by Indian customers. The major success factors are:

1. Spectrum of Products: Maruti is offering a spectrum of products which is targeted at every Indian. There will be at least one product which can satisfy the need and passion of every buyer. No other manufacturers in India have this much range.

2. Twenty five years of consistency in a market is not a small thing. Maruti entered the market at right time with right partner. First few years they enjoyed the market without any competitors. More than this this long experience helped them to
a. create a strong brand (even in rural India)
b. source most of the components locally
c. set up enough dealers and service centers

3. Pricing : In all aspects Maruti priced their cars affordable for the Indian market. In most cases the pricing strategy is good for the
a. Product
b. Service Cost
c. Spare Parts

4. Open Market Policy : This is one important factor, many companies don't understand. Maruti opened their spare parts to both direct and indirect dealers so that the item is available without scarcity in open market at an affordable price. More than price, the customer have many options to get the same product, without depending the mercy of one or two dealers or service centers.

5. Sales and Service : Maruti sales and service is really appreciable because of the following aspects:
a. Accessibility and reachability
b. Behavior towards customers (in both sales and service)
c. Customer Followup (sales)
d. Problem solving (service)
e. Promptness and time management
f. Sales tie ups (with financial institutions, True Value dealers etc)

6. Resale Value : If its a Maruti, no worries on resale value

Umm. I personally used to subscribe to this logic till sometime back. Partly, I still do. Finish in plastics is wanting and they sell deathboxes like the Omni.

BUT - to say that the rest of their cars are unsafe is blatantly false. Maruti cars are safe! (except Omni). Rattling is an issue alot of us (incl yours truly) are happily living with (or maybe mine isnt a full on rattler).

The only issue I see is that Suzuki = small cars. So they can't sell in USA. As for europe, the target segment (as per some articles i read) is youngsters/retirees. Which definitely would have less money during the recession!

Why don't you also add that Maruti gifts company stocks free of cost to its owners. :D

Talking about safety, do you know that Maruti was one of the first to provide Airbags and ABS in small cars? And handling - ever driven the Swift ? or Baleno ? or Old Zen ? or Esteem ?

This is exactly my point. The markets are different, so are the requirements.

I absolutely agree with you. We have two maruti's in our house .One 14 year M800 with 4lakh + kms on it .And i got a second hand zen for very occasional use .What i see is maruti is cheap only till a point in its lifetime say 60-80,000 kms after which it starts costing .Many issues crop up later on. Regarding fuel efficiency maruti is efficient but that is because these boxes are really light on weight with puny tires.
What i understand :
Maruti Sells ;
1.) Resale Value
2.) Herd Mentality
3.) Indians as car buyers do not think much about ride comfort , handling , safety , design etc.On the contrary most Indians think about spares , resale value , less haggles (remember Maruti as a brand offers the least number of gizmos in the car which means the service center do not need to be well versed with the related technologies/components)
And if i ever decide on buying a new car it will definitely be a European brand .


@ DCEite :

I would gladly like to correct yourself as Palio was the first car in the avtar 1.6GTX SP pack which came with Airbags and ABS along with EBD.

Also regarding handling agreed Zen/Baleno was a good handler but that is about it .What about safety , ride comfort , noise insulation , features ?And Esteem i wonder what made you say it unless you talking about rally spec version which is heavily modified.


Also i would like to say Maruti Sells :
Majority of Indian Car buying masses has average to below average knowledge of the car's .
So they end up buying a average car.

@ Trust in Thrust:

For point No.3 : I think SWIFT (For handling, safety, FE,Looks) is manufactured by Maruti-Suzuki (isn't it?)
I think SX4 (Looks, safety, ride ), Dezire (FE, Safety) too has some safety features like Airbags and ABS, or have they stopped it?? Wagon R , Ritz and Astar have an option of ABS, GV has the safety features as well.

Please don't under estimate the car buying public as people with AVERAGE KNOWLEDGE . No one becomes a car expert overnight.

Sorry, I wont be disappointed by your decision for not buying an average car, I love each and every car manufactured here. Buy a good car. Best of Luck.

Maruti-Suzuki was formed basically with an intention of providing a "Common man's car". So that what it has been sticking to for the last couple of decades. Build a car that will be affordable to everybody. If that mean putting lesser features then so be it. If it means compromise of safety then so be it.

They have understood the mentality of Indian buyers pretty well, feature-compromise is a solution to lower price. And that is the reason we have under-featured cars in India as compared to rest of the world.

--Vikrant

Someone had said Maruti Swift was the first car to have Airbags .I just corrected that.

Yes i have two average cars . The first was bought 14 years back and close to our heart. The second is second hand and used for less than 10 kms in a month .(So did not think it a good investment to get a new Fiat for such less running . Also it is a Zen with just 16k kms on odo .Got for 2.10 L. Also for family we rent a sedan/suv for long tours.)
Also when i decide that i need a new car which might be pretty soon i will be sorry to disappoint you because i will never make the mistake of buying a average new car.

@vikrantj ; I agree with you but lately Maruti is losing the value for money tag.

Safety is a big compromise,
If there is a head on collison betwen Palio / Punto with Sx4 , I wonder what state will Sx4 be.
Even if a Goat comes and hits a swift there are big dents , forget the bull / cow on highway.
Most of cars from Suzuki stable are best cars to drive in city with great VFM

ALL the above are positives , only negetive in form of point 7 , I feels weighing down is SAFETY :Frustrati

It may not be that they are not 'bothered' by them, it's maybe because they cannot 'afford' them !

The obscurantism of the license raj period. But 'free market' had already started and going, and the going will be tough for maruti suzuki.

Hardly! They can't be where they are if they also did not provide acceptable level of quality and VFM to the target segment. The free market has been here for about a decade and a half. I expected Maruti's advantage to evaporate in the first five years, but it does not seem to happen any time soon. But their market share will eventually come down below 50% to about one third, and they also know it. The other VFM companies, Hyundai and TATA will see to that.

They are actually VFM small car makers and that is why don't succeed in the higher segment. As Kannan666 mentioned, it is not that the average car buyers (me included) don't care about other features, they simply are unable to afford them!

BTW, the doors of many auto biggies were knocked and they refused to touch India, before Suzuki was finalized for the joint venture by GOI.

When you'll buy new car of a different make and stay with it for few years, you will come know that previous two cars of yours were not average. Especially considering the fact that you paid premium for so called above average cars.
Best of luck!

You know what? Let us assume SX4 gets more damage for the argument sake. I bet it will be on the road within very acceptable duration whereas a Palio/Punto will be waiting (all stripped, no less) in the garage for the spare parts to arrive (will they?) for months together. Hope you came across the Adventure thread :)

Having said that, the build quality of non-Japanese-origin cars is hyped too much in my opinion. It's not like you see cars with doors and panels hanging out from Maruti cars :) They sure rattle, no doubt. Light build does not automatically translate to shrunken safety.