Whats up with this so called "Waiting period"

bottle · 18th July 2007, 16:18

haha reminds me when my grand dad got a limited edition gold fiat (padmini) after a 4 year waiting period and then sold it on the day it arrived to someone who was so smitten by it.

for palio there was a weeks waiting period for 1.6 that made sense since they would get the cars from rajjangaon only after getting a booking

DieselFan · 18th July 2007, 16:23

Increasing capacity is not that easy as one may think. It needs serious investments in couple of hundred crores to add new machines, change assembly line layouts etc. in addition to investments it needs time to fix the problem. These two are huge inertias for a company to improve their supply.

Yes sitting now one might blame maruti for Poor planning but think of the loss they would incur if the demand was only lukewarm and they were left with thousands of finished cars in inventory?

I think Maruti has errored on a conservative side as they were much more cautious. Like all other indian companies.

Rtech · 18th July 2007, 16:32

Question is, do these factories really run to capacity? I find that hard to believe considering the low volumes in the Indian market. Another fact could be that they do not have a single assembly line for a single model. So companies like Maruti who have a dozen models that may be built on a single line, things take a lot longer.

V-16 · 18th July 2007, 16:53

I can understand when a company like Maruti does this as they're probably using the same assembly line for different cars.. but Premier never had that problem, they made only one car!! Their problem was factory lockouts and strikes, all thanks to the late Dr. Datta Samant. the waiting period was 8 years and one got a car, if one paid an almost 100% premium. I had mentioned somewhere that once I got a car from the dealership, at a premium without headlight and tail light assemblies and with out Wipers, ie no arm, blade and no motor. I drove it straight to opera house and got Hella H4 halogen headlights and Translight or Transcar or Trans something, aftermarket tail lights. Does anyone know who owned that company?? Dilip Chabbria... or DC as he is better known.

hondadude · 18th July 2007, 19:04

This poll needs a third option genuine capacity constraint. Plant capacity is built for steady state sales of a product. New launches results in initial euphoria and usually the sales settle down after a few months. There are times when due to a genuine estimation error, a company faces capacity constraint. I personally think that due to the variety of models that Maruti has in their lineup, their are genuinely facing capacity constraint.

Does anyone have any hard numbers on the capacity of Maruti plants ? We can correlate that to the sales numbers and at least rule out the Marketing gimmick option. It is OK to create shortfall initially and act pricey but after some time it hurts company if they can't fix their supply problem. Since Maruti is managed very well, I don't think this is a Marketing gimmick.

esteem_lover · 18th July 2007, 19:16

I think it is a genuine problem for maruti. They are caught in a fix right now. They are probably not sure if they want to expand their capacity seeing the sales of swift or to wait out the euphoria & then think about the future. No company would want to have a knee jerk expansion policy. I believe they are running their plants at full strength.

Laxminarayan · 18th July 2007, 19:20

Another way to check if it's a marketing gimmick or the car's are being picked up, is check if the dealers are giving any kind of offers on the cars. The offers would be literally absent if there is too much demand and the company cannot satisfy it in time. I think the waiting period for swift has come back due to the introduction of diesel version. They must be using the same platforms to produce this and their planning in terms of sales have been screwed up..

nitrous · 19th July 2007, 21:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumpy

well its just a gimmick to create a scarcity,boost up the reputation of the product to an extent thats not worth,create a hyper hype and make a few extra bucks..but i think MUL is overdoing it with the swift and in the longer run could affect the company badly..

This is just the opposite of what U told in the other waiting period thread!

snaronikar · 19th July 2007, 21:31

I remember my director always saying "Fast Eats Slow". If Maruti does not act fast, I'am afraid they will never be able to catch up as other models are getting released. I agree that they might have a genuine problem with capacity right now. But they need to cope up as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will lose out in the market.

theMAG · 19th July 2007, 21:57

Its always abt the will, and not much else. If Maruti wanted to make the Swift and SX4 readily available they would have done that a long time ago. They've not, and I'm sure they have reasons - none of which will make for easy listening for the car buyer.

mclaren1885 · 20th July 2007, 03:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by part organriser

This is just the opposite of what U told in the other waiting period thread!

Ever heard Sarcasm?

Quote:

Originally Posted by theMag

Its always abt the will, and not much else.

And money, and machinery, and labour, and investment to say the least. And all these big decisions have to be backed up with financial estimates, fool proof plans on M&S and least risk factor. This holds good for all companies, not everyone can get away with making jokes all the time. Lot of lives are at stake when such big expansion plans go wrong.

khanak · 20th July 2007, 03:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-16

I can understand when a company like Maruti does this as they're probably using the same assembly line for different cars.. but Premier never had that problem, they made only one car!! Their problem was factory lockouts and strikes, all thanks to the late Dr. Datta Samant. the waiting period was 8 years and one got a car, if one paid an almost 100% premium. I had mentioned somewhere that once I got a car from the dealership, at a premium without headlight and tail light assemblies and with out Wipers, ie no arm, blade and no motor. I drove it straight to opera house and got Hella H4 halogen headlights and Translight or Transcar or Trans something, aftermarket tail lights. Does anyone know who owned that company?? Dilip Chabbria... or DC as he is better known.

OT

Aftermarket taillights on a Fiat? That too by DC !! Pics pls.

xinome · 20th July 2007, 04:04

i dont know what the guys in maruti are doing at your places 2 - 4 months.

well get ready to be shocked a very bearded bhpain ordered the swift vdi and had a waiting period of 2 days, let me give him a call he must be having the car in his hands rite now! the lucky chap

he had a choice of two colours black and white both rare!

maruti popular trivandrum are doing a awesome job!

DieselFan · 20th July 2007, 08:23

Some of the dealers may be hoarding Swift Ds. That can also be the cause of delays. In times of shortage it is human nature to Hoard.

CrAzY dRiVeR · 20th July 2007, 08:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by xinome

i dont know what the guys in maruti are doing at your places 2 - 4 months.
well get ready to be shocked a very bearded bhpain ordered the swift vdi and had a waiting period of 2 days, let me give him a call he must be having the car in his hands rite now! the lucky chap
he had a choice of two colours black and white both rare!
maruti popular trivandrum are doing a awesome job!

Somehow, the last 8-9 years, haven't given a reason for complaint. Whether it be sales (for us and friends) or service (as described in some of my threads)

View Poll Results: Wating period is
Marketting Gimmick	42	59.15%
Shows that car is really selling like hot cakes	29	40.85%
Voters: 71. You may not vote on this poll

18th July 2007, 16:18	#16
bottle Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Chennai Posts: 1,634 Thanked: 274 Times View My Garage	haha reminds me when my grand dad got a limited edition gold fiat (padmini) after a 4 year waiting period and then sold it on the day it arrived to someone who was so smitten by it. for palio there was a weeks waiting period for 1.6 that made sense since they would get the cars from rajjangaon only after getting a booking
	() Thanks

18th July 2007, 16:23	#17
DieselFan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,584 Thanked: 259 Times	Increasing capacity is not that easy as one may think. It needs serious investments in couple of hundred crores to add new machines, change assembly line layouts etc. in addition to investments it needs time to fix the problem. These two are huge inertias for a company to improve their supply. Yes sitting now one might blame maruti for Poor planning but think of the loss they would incur if the demand was only lukewarm and they were left with thousands of finished cars in inventory? I think Maruti has errored on a conservative side as they were much more cautious. Like all other indian companies.
	() Thanks

18th July 2007, 16:32	#18
Rtech Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 5,770 Thanked: 359 Times View My Garage	Question is, do these factories really run to capacity? I find that hard to believe considering the low volumes in the Indian market. Another fact could be that they do not have a single assembly line for a single model. So companies like Maruti who have a dozen models that may be built on a single line, things take a lot longer.
	() Thanks

18th July 2007, 16:53	#19
V-16 Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: mumbai Posts: 4,594 Thanked: 950 Times View My Garage	I can understand when a company like Maruti does this as they're probably using the same assembly line for different cars.. but Premier never had that problem, they made only one car!! Their problem was factory lockouts and strikes, all thanks to the late Dr. Datta Samant. the waiting period was 8 years and one got a car, if one paid an almost 100% premium. I had mentioned somewhere that once I got a car from the dealership, at a premium without headlight and tail light assemblies and with out Wipers, ie no arm, blade and no motor. I drove it straight to opera house and got Hella H4 halogen headlights and Translight or Transcar or Trans something, aftermarket tail lights. Does anyone know who owned that company?? Dilip Chabbria... or DC as he is better known.
	() Thanks

18th July 2007, 19:04	#20
hondadude Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,044 Thanked: 69 Times	This poll needs a third option genuine capacity constraint. Plant capacity is built for steady state sales of a product. New launches results in initial euphoria and usually the sales settle down after a few months. There are times when due to a genuine estimation error, a company faces capacity constraint. I personally think that due to the variety of models that Maruti has in their lineup, their are genuinely facing capacity constraint. Does anyone have any hard numbers on the capacity of Maruti plants ? We can correlate that to the sales numbers and at least rule out the Marketing gimmick option. It is OK to create shortfall initially and act pricey but after some time it hurts company if they can't fix their supply problem. Since Maruti is managed very well, I don't think this is a Marketing gimmick.
	() Thanks

18th July 2007, 19:16	#21
esteem_lover Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Madras/Py Posts: 7,556 Thanked: 502 Times View My Garage	I think it is a genuine problem for maruti. They are caught in a fix right now. They are probably not sure if they want to expand their capacity seeing the sales of swift or to wait out the euphoria & then think about the future. No company would want to have a knee jerk expansion policy. I believe they are running their plants at full strength.
	() Thanks

18th July 2007, 19:20	#22
Laxminarayan BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 170 Thanked: 0 Times	Another way to check if it's a marketing gimmick or the car's are being picked up, is check if the dealers are giving any kind of offers on the cars. The offers would be literally absent if there is too much demand and the company cannot satisfy it in time. I think the waiting period for swift has come back due to the introduction of diesel version. They must be using the same platforms to produce this and their planning in terms of sales have been screwed up..
	() Thanks

19th July 2007, 21:31	#24
snaronikar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 2,845 Thanked: 29 Times View My Garage	I remember my director always saying "Fast Eats Slow". If Maruti does not act fast, I'am afraid they will never be able to catch up as other models are getting released. I agree that they might have a genuine problem with capacity right now. But they need to cope up as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will lose out in the market.
	() Thanks

19th July 2007, 21:57	#25
theMAG Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Avon, CT Posts: 7,217 Thanked: 1,807 Times View My Garage	Its always abt the will, and not much else. If Maruti wanted to make the Swift and SX4 readily available they would have done that a long time ago. They've not, and I'm sure they have reasons - none of which will make for easy listening for the car buyer.
	() Thanks

20th July 2007, 04:04	#28
xinome BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: I am lost.... Posts: 339 Thanked: 0 Times	i dont know what the guys in maruti are doing at your places 2 - 4 months. well get ready to be shocked a very bearded bhpain ordered the swift vdi and had a waiting period of 2 days, let me give him a call he must be having the car in his hands rite now! the lucky chap he had a choice of two colours black and white both rare! maruti popular trivandrum are doing a awesome job!
	() Thanks

20th July 2007, 08:23	#29
DieselFan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,584 Thanked: 259 Times	Some of the dealers may be hoarding Swift Ds. That can also be the cause of delays. In times of shortage it is human nature to Hoard.
	() Thanks