I think this is now turning out into a Suzuki bashing thread. It would be more constructive if we try to get to the bottom of the matter.
Firstly, globally where does Suzuki stand?
Suzuki sells large volumes of small cars which makes it the 9th largest car manufacturer in the world. (
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intern...automaker.html) However, this number is misleading. An automobile manufacturer’s true strength comes from its financial position. The image here depicts the Fortune 500 (Automobile and Parts) companies for the year 2009 (partial). Kindly refer this thread for details starting from 2005-2009 (
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intern...05-2009-a.html).
Revenue wise, Suzuki is in 19th position with revenues of about 30,000M$, Global 500 ranks of 290, profit of 272M$ and an annual loss of 61% (compared to 2007).
This makes it clear that, globally Suzuki is a very small player and can’t be seen as a threat to any major manufacturer by any means.
- Hyundai is over two times bigger than Suzuki (Revenue and Profits).
- Toyota, VW, GM, Ford and Daimler are still mighty BIG. Lets not even try to compare Suzuki with these!
- Fiat is about three times bigger than Suzuki and is fast approaching Honda! Also note the difference between Honda and Toyota.
- Note: One thing to observe here is that Fiat achieves these figures with absolutely no presence in North America! With the takeover of Chrysler, things might be different!
- GM’s loses are more than Suzuki’s entire Revenue!
It is very clear from the above that globally Suzuki is not a threat to pretty much any competitor above it.
Technology:
Where does Suzuki stand in terms of Technology and Innovation?
In over 100 years of existence, no company can survive without adapting to newer technologies. However, this does not necessarily mean that they need to be inventors / innovators as well. Suzuki believes more in evolution than innovation.
I really can’t think of any major design / technology / innovation / style / awards (lets ignore the COTY in India) bagged by Suzuki. They’ve never been revolutionaries in this field.
Even when they play the catch up game, it is never close the main players / inventors in this field. There is not a single technology by Suzuki which could be termed as the “world’s best”!
Portfolio:
This is one place where they take the biggest beating globally. They have a wide variety of micro mini cars which finds its applications in limited countries. These cars are not too different from each other and simple, light weight and fuel efficient. Safety is not the primary strength (800, Van, Alto, Zen, Estilo, Wagon R, Esteem etc). The entire range of cars feels flimsy when compared to the American, European and even Korean competition.
Their engine line-up is even more limited. They have a very limited range of small engines. If I am not wrong, then they don’t have any beyond 3L!
Diesel engines / technology / license etc are obviously obtained from other manufacturers.
If one dares to compare Suzuki with Toyota / GM / Ford in this department, one would realize how insignificant and miniscule Suzuki’s offerings are.
Race / Rally pedigree:
I am not sure about any Suzuki’s presence in any form of Formula races. Its rally ambition began in 2007 and ended in 2008 with Swift and SX4 as their main cars. Throughout their participation, they were hampered by reliability issues. They failed to make any major impact in rally.
India: The head start:
The major car manufacturers in India when Suzuki landed in India were HM and PAL. An economically closed India was left out of the car-globalization. Enter the 800. As GTO says, public perception and rumors almost entirely decide the fate of a car in India. I still remember (I was a kid then) listening to people:
A: “I head there is a small new car coming!”
B: “Yeah! I heard it is more like use and throw car. It will be cheap but can’t be repaired like my Ambassador!”
Reliability:
As days passed, Mr. B realized that, every Monday morning, his friendly mechanic would be summoned to start his Ambassador but that tiny little car of Mr. A is active like a kitten!!! Thus began a new chapter of Reliability in the history of Indian Cars!
Good roads or bad roads, they seldom broke! The poor Mr. B, his stranded Ambassador and a stranger mechanic (with greasy outfit and hands) repairing the Ambassador, would stare at this tiny little car’s tiny little wheels negotiating bad roads!
Fuel Efficiency:
It later wrote another chapter in the history of Fuel Efficiency in India. The old generation 800 and van were too damn frugal compared to the competition. As the fuel prices began to rise, the competition in India simply didn’t have the answer to these tiny little cars.
A.S.S:
Initially, authorized service centers were considered expensive and looked upon as a manufacturer’s way to establish dependency!
Mr. B said: “I should be able to repair my car in any garage anywhere!”
In the rare event of an issue, Mr. A always repaired at the authorized service centre. Complete peace of mind! The mechanics even wore uniforms!!!
Maruti 1000:
Mr. A and B: “OMG! What a beauty?” Never before in the history of Indian cars, anybody had seen such a beautiful car! There was a mass hysteria! Several people booked the car even though they didn’t have the dough! They were smart, since they sold these at a premium to other genuine buyers and made money.
Back in school, I remember drawing the red Maruti 1000 (as shown in the brochure) and showing it to my dad and saying why don’t you buy this?
This car rocketed Maruti’s image in everybody’s mind. This car stood for style and luxury. There was nothing in the market that offered competition. Rich people suddenly found a way to distinguish themselves from the rest (Amby, 800 and Van).
Bad Karma:
Rover Montego, Standard 2000, Opel, Daewoo and PAL all fell one by one. RIP. HM got desperate - MK 3, MK4, Nova, supernova, bla, bla. In all this chaos, Suzuki was the last man standing. PERIOD. Fiat, though initially showed some promise, faded away soon. Its actually a shame that a company like Fiat, with a formidable line-up of smash hit small cars in Europe, failed miserably in their first attempt in India.
Their second innings is a different ball game!
Rally in India:
Zen, Baleno, Esteem and Gypsy have all been the rally circuit stars in India. Suzuki never designed these cars with rally in mind! The reasons why these cars are used in the Indian rally scene are:
01. There was no alternative until Lancer, Cedia and Fiesta arrieved!
02. Rally breaks cars. Teams need spares in the remotest corner of India. Suzuki is the only answer.
03. Being light weight cars, this gives a massive performance advantage to these cars.
04. Small and simple engines could be easily tweaked for performance modifications.
05. These cars also handle extremely well.
Suzuki cars with rally pedigree are SX4 and Swift. However, these don’t seem to be widely used in rally here.
New Competition:
Hyundai and Tata are the only two manufactures in India that offer Maruti some form of competition. The South Korean Auto giant, though globally much larger than Suzuki in every department, finds it difficult to even compete with Suzuki’s generation old primitive cars!
Today, Hyundai and Tata have pretty much replaced their entire portfolio from their initial line up but they still are a distant second and third! The old generation tiny tin boxes continue to rule the Indian heart and mind!
Car to car comparison wise, there is not a single segment today where Suzuki beats the competition. The sales figures are contrary though and that obviously is the point of discussion.
Nano effect:
History would repeat itself if Tata can pull of what Maruti did with their 800. The Nana is the cheapest Tata model available and hence has reduced the entry barrier to own a Tata. Once the production issues are sorted out, Nano will hit its peak sales. This will build a brand perception in people’s mind. If the Nano proves to be absolutely trouble free, then people will accept Tata as a major car player in India. People would then start aspiring for higher models from Tata and this way Tata could potentially become a serious threat to Maruti. Obviously, Tata also needs several good small hatches to match the Maruti portfolio.
VFM: “You get what you pay for” is more like it! Swift P, Ritz, SX4 and GV are real VFM cars. Car to car, the Palio D is cheaper and more VFM than the Swift D.
The competition today offers much better cars with fantastic service (Hyundai) in every segment. The competition offers cars at a slightly higher price but that is understandable simply because, there is cost of innovation involved. A manufacturer invests millions of dollars into R&D to bring out advanced engines and other technologies. You can’t expect that manufacturer to price their new cars on par with cars that are generations older!
Are they really better?
Clearly NO. The competition today offers better alternatives.
Are we compromising?
Yes we are. We still don’t trust the other brands. Every time we buy an 800, van, Alto, Zen, Estillo, Wagon, A-Star, Versa etc we are making a compromise on the car for the sake of better Reliability and A.S.S.
Swift, Ritz, SX4 and GV are the only exceptions. However, barring GV, the competition today offers
better or equally good cars in all segments.