CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (formerly Maruti Udyog Ltd) is India's largest passenger car
company, accounting for over 50 per cent of the domestic car market. The company
offers full range of cars from entry level Maruti Alto to stylish hatchback Ritz, A-star,
Swift, Wagon R, Estillo and sedans DZire, SX4 and Sports Utility vehicle Grand
Vitara. The company is a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan. The
Japanese car major held 56.21% stake in Maruti Suzuki as on 31 December 2017.
The company is engaged in the business of manufacturing, purchase and sale of motor
vehicles and spare parts (automobiles). The other activities of the company include
facilitation of pre-owned car sales, fleet management and car financing. They have four
plants, three located at Palam Gurgaon Road, Gurgaon, Haryana and one located at
Manesar Industrial Town, Gurgaon

,Haryana. The company has nine subsidiary companies, namely Maruti Insurance
Business Agency Ltd, Maruti Insurance Distribution Services Ltd, Maruti Insurance
Agency Solutions Ltd, Maruti Insurance Agency Network Ltd, Maruti Insurance
Agency Services Ltd, Maruti Insurance Agency Logistics Ltd, True Value Solutions
Ltd, Maruthi Insurance Broker Ltd and JJ Impex (Delhi) Pvt Ltd. Maruti Suzuki India
Ltd was incorporated on February 24, 1981 with the name Maruti Udyog Ltd. The
company was formed as a government company, with Suzuki as a minor partner, to
make a people's car for middle class India. Over the years, the company's product range
has widened, ownership has changed hands and the customer has evolved.
Mission - With no mission statement mentioned as such, still brands mission since its
inception has been “To motorize the country”.

Vision - The Leader in the Indian Automobile Industry, creating customer Delight and
Shareholder’s wealth; A pride of India” Core Values of MUL

 Customer Obsession

 Fast, Flexible and First Mover

 Innovation and Creativity

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 CHAPTER - 2

HISTORY OF INDIAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY

History of Indian Automobile Industry Initially, in the post-liberalization period, the

automotive sector, especially the passenger car segment, saw a boom, derived primarily from
economic vibrancy, changes in Government policies, increase in purchasing power,
improvement in life styles, and availability of car finance. The passenger car industry was
finally deregulated in 1993. However, the automobile industry, which contributed
substantially to the industrial growth in FY1996 failed to maintain the same momentum
between FY1997 and FY1999. The overall slowdown in the economy and the resultant
slowdown in industrial production, political uncertainty and inadequate infrastructure
development were some of the factors responsible for the slowdown experienced. In FY2000,
the sector experienced a turnaround and witnessed the launch of many new models. Two
things that stunted growth of this industry in the past have been low demand and lack of
vision on the part of the original equipment manufacturers (QEMs). However, the demand
picked up after the liberalization of the regulatory environment, and global QEMs- who enjoy
scale economies both in terms of manufacturing and research and development (R&D) -
entered the Indian market. This has resulted in a big shift in the way business is conducted by
suppliers, assemblers and marketers.

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 CHAPTER-3

MARKET SEGMENTATION OF MARUTHI SUZUKI

In today’s times, the automobile sector is robust with growth and more and more
players are entering the automobile industry. The meaning of market segmentation was
discussed in the last post and here an attempt has been made to get an overview of the market
segmentation of automobiles.

Tagline-“Way of Life”

Based on the economic strata the Indian automobile consumer segment is divided in five
categories:

 Economy (priced less than 3 lakhs)

 Mid Range (priced between 3-5 lakhs)

 Luxury (priced between 5-10 lakhs)

 Premium (priced between 10-20 lakhs)

 Super Premium (priced above 20 lakhs)

The economic segment caters to the need of the rural and the semi urban population, whereas
the mid range segment takes care to the needs of all three i.e. rural, semi urban and the urban
population. The luxury segment takes care of the semi urban and the urban population and as
there are no cars of Maruti in the super premium segment so the needs of the affluent class is
not fulfilled.

 Geographic segmentation

Geographical segmentation is one of the most important basis of segmentation of the

automobile sector, especially in large sized countries like India, where the conditions in
different regions.
Taking the segmentation in India itself, we find that manufactures of tractors would focus
only on those areas where agriculture is of prime importance and would target those
agriculturists who have sizeable land holdings and have the resources to buy a tractor.

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 On the other hand, commercial vehicle companies would segment the market on the basis
of concentration of industries in different regions.
Luxury car makers would definitely target the metropolitan regions for the sale of their cars,
whereas small car makers would also take into account developing cities and townships into
account during the process of segmentation of their products.

 Demographic segmentation

An other important basis for segmentation of the automobile sector is demographic

segmentation. Demographic segmentation provides a base marketing of products according to
the income, status, age, etc.
Manufactures of small cars like Nano would primarily focus on the segment of the people
belonging to the middle class and here comes lies the demographic segmentation. On the
other hand, luxury car manufacturers would focus more on the high income segment.
Similarly, demographic segmentation plays an important role in the two wheeler market.
Bike manufacturers generally target young to middle aged people. More and more
manufactures are coming with automobiles for women, which have special features and are
easy to use.
According to the age of the target market group, automobile manufacturers would come
up with different colour variants, for instance bright and flashy colours for the young and vice
versa.

 Psychological segmentation

Based on psychological segmentation, automobile manufacturers come up with different

variant of the models of their products. This has been largely seen in the case of cars, where
companies generally come up with two or three variants of the same model, and it has been
observed by industry analysts that the variant of the medium variant of the model sells the
most.
Tag-lines such as “Men are Back” (used by Maruti Suzuki for the launch of a new car)
and “Definitely Male” (used by Bajaj for a popular bike) target a particular category of
individuals and help to increase sales and popularity in that segment.

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 Manufacturers of luxury cars like Ferrari, Porsche, etc target the section of the society
with a large disposable income and high status, and this can be achieved by psychological
segmentation.

 Targeting

Maruti is segmented also on the basis of income groups present in the country i.e. the
people having an income of 3 lakhs per annum consider cars of economy range which are
Alto and Omni. People falling in the income range of 3-5 lakhs per annum consider the mid
range segment of Maruti cars which include A-Star, Swift and Ritz. The people with an
income more than 5 lakhs per annum mainly consider cars in luxury and premium segment of
Maruti cars such as SX4, Swift Dzire etc
Maruti faces stiff competition from Chevrolet Beat, Tata Indica, Fiat Punto and Hyundai
I10 in the automobile sector. Maruti provides all the basic features which are required in a car
by a customer so it is clearly the market leader in the Indian automobile sector.

The following table shows us the comparison between the market share of Maruti Suzuki Ltd.
compared with other automobile companies in India:

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  Positioning

There are various taglines associated with different Maruti cars which signifies the
uniqueness of each car on its own, like the tagline for Alto was “Let’s Go In An Alto”, for
Swift it was “You Are The Fuel” and for SX4 it was “Men Are Back”. These taglines
completely associate all these cars.

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 CHAPTER- 4

MARKETING MIX OF MARUTHI SUZUKI

 Product

Maruti Suzuki has divided its product line into five segments as per the following table:

Product Line Products

A1 (mini) 800

A2 (compact/hatchback) Alto, Swift, Celerio

A3 (mid-size) Swift DZire, SX4

Utility Vehicle Gypsy, Grand Vitara

Multi-purpose vehicle Omini, Eeco

The product strategy and mix in Maruti Suzuki marketing strategy can be explained as
follows:

Maruti Suzuki India has a diverse product portfolio and is present in such categories of cars
as hatchback, supermini, SUV, sedan and van. The entire product portfolio of automobiles
are a part of the products in the marketing mix of Maruti Suzuki. Its products are Maruti Alto,
Celerio, Wagon R, Maruti Swift, Baleno, Maruti Gypsy, Eeco, Maruti Ciaz, Ertiga, Dzire, S
Cross, Ignis and Maruti Omni. In most categories its cars are segment leaders and priced
competitively.Maruti Suzuki manufactures 1.5 million cars each year with 15 car models and
a total of 150 variants. In January 2016, Maruti Suzuki India had a total market share of 47%
amongst all passenger cars sold.Maruti also offers services such as Maruti finance, Maruti
Insurance, Maruti True Value (used cars), Maruti Accessories and Maruti Driving School to
promote the growth of its bottomline. Also, Maruti Suzuki has two of its cars with CNG
fitting too. These are vehicles that run on CNG. Examples of CNG run cars are Alto 800,
Eeco, Wagon R, Celerio, Ertiga and SX4.

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  Price

One of the key drivers of volumes of sale for Maruti Suzuki has been its ‘value for money’
strategy. This comes from its low cost learning from years of engineering in India. By
providing light weight yet safe cars, Maruti is able to cut down on costs and price its cars
competitively, in some cases undercutting the competition by 7-10 percent. Maruti’s low cost
of ownership, affordable spares, long service intervals ensure that the pricing strategy of
Maruti is implemented not just at the time of sale but also after the car has been bought. This
gives Maruti an edge and makes it such a popular car company. Thus the pricing strategy in
the marketing mix of Maruti Suzuki is dependent upon the competitors, market dynamics and
the segment catered to.

CAR NAME PRICE OF CARS CATEOGRY

Omini 2.68 Lakhs to 2.70 lakhs minivan

Wagon R 4.65lakhs to 6.33 lakhs Hatchback

Swift 5.43 lakhs to 9.84lakhs Hatchback

Dzire 6.09 lakhs to 10.61 lakhs Sedan

Eeco 3.65 lakhs to 4.79 lakhs Minivan

Alto 800 2.8lakhs to 4.17lakhs Hatchback

Alto k10 3.87lakhs to 4.92lakhs Hatchback

Ertiga 9.11lakhs to 12.72lakhs Mini MPV

Celerio 4.78lakhs to 6.06 lakhs Hatchback

Ciaz 9.37lakhs to 13.5 lakhs Sedan

Baleno 6.07 lakhs to 10.03 lakhs Hatchback

S- cross 10.12 lakhs to 13.64 lakhs Mini SUV

Vitara Brezza 8.45 lakhs to 12.35 lakhs Mini SUV

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  Place

Maruti ‘s service network spans most states of India and is spread across 1400+ cities
manufactured at 2 factories, Manesar and Gurgaon with an annual capacity exceeding 15 lakh
cars per annum. Maruti plans to set up another plant in Gujarat for which it has acquired 600
acres of land. Maruti has around 1800+ sales outlets in all the cities combined and has a
dealership which is wider than such competitors as Hyundai, Tata and Mahindra, even in the
rural landscape. The place strategy in the marketing mix of Maruti covers not only its
presence of dealers but also service centres, Service is a major revenue generator for the
company, thanks to its wide network.

Some numbers showing the extensive network for Maruti Suzuki are:

Showrooms and Car Sale Outlets - 933 covering 668 cities.

 Authorised Service Stations – 1845 covering 1395 cities.

 Dealership Outlets – 1101

 True Value Outlets – 353 covering 208 cities.

 Express Service Stations on Highways – 30

The True Value Outlets were started with a view to retain the customers under exchange
programs enabling the customers to upgrade their existing car models. Later these outlets
were converted to be a different vertical business unit of Maruti Suzuki Ltd. to capture the
market for pre owned cars in India based on the high resale value of Maruti Suzuki cars
giving up to 70 percent return on resale.

 Promotion

Having decades of presence in India enables Maruti to leverage its barand value and brand
perception well. It also helps Maruti cut down on promotional costs. Maruti uses unique
advertising methods to promote its cars and often ropes in stars and celebrities as brand
ambassadors for various cars models. Maruti has utilized heavily the online promotion space
for the launch of its Brezza, Ignis and S Scross. Maruti also uses traditional advertising
spaces such as newspapers, television, radio, ATL etc.

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Maruti Suzuki Ltd. has used various media of promotion.

 TV - There has been a lot of advertisements through this media as most of the target
audience connects to Maruti Suzuki through its emotional TV commercials company touches
everyone irrespective of their demographics, age, occupation etc. There is always an
advantage when an connection is made with the audience through audio-visual means as it is
supposed to leave an ever lasting impact on the consumers.

 Print Media – The Company has also used newspaper, magazines to promote its product to
the consumers.

 Radio – The Company also uses radio as an important media for advertising its product
line. It sponsors certain shows on air, events for all radio listeners etc.

Apart from this, Maruti Suzuki Ltd. has also partnered with certain TV shows like “India’s
Got Talent” and also provides sponsorships to certain famous events to make its presence
felt. The company is also involved in certain CSR activities mostly around its manufacturing
units to make people grow with the company. This all helps in creating a visibility and
goodwill for the company for the non-existing customers and hence, increasing the sales

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 CHAPTER - 5

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF MARUTI SUZUKI

With over 30 years of presence in the country, there’s a brand trust among the customers.
Also With two manufacturing unit in the country, one in Gurugram and Manesar gives the
brand edge over its competitors.

Factors which sets apart Maruti Suzuki from its competitors include

 The Quality Advantage

 Brand Trust- A Buying Experience Like No other

 Quality Service Across 1036 Cities

 The Low cost of Maintenance Advantage

 Lowest Cost of Ownership

 Technological Advantage

MSF continues its strong domination both in Indian market and in exports as well with the
company selling over 1.64 million vehicles to bring its market share close to 50% in the
domestic market and exporting 4-wheelers to over 125 countries globally to become the
largest passenger cars exporter from India last year, dethroning Hyundai Motors India Ltd.
which now stands fourth after Volkswagen and General Motors.

The company exported 57,300 units in the April-September period last year with a growth of
6% from 54,008 unit a year ago. MSI has also not only managed to sustain its huge sales
numbers but has also increased its market share both in the urban and rural market.

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 CHAPTER - 6

SWOT ANALYSIS OF MARUTHI SUZUKI

Below is the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats (SWOT) Analysis of Maruti
Suzuki. Strengths are:

Strengths

 Maruti Suzuki is the largest passenger car company in India, accounting for around
45% market share
 Over 12,000 people are employed with Maruti
 Good advertising, product portfolio, self-competing brands
 Largest distribution network of dealers and after sales service centres
 Strong brand value and strong presence in the second hand car market
 Having different revenue streams like Maruti finance, Maruti Insurance and Maruti
driving schools
 Over 700,000 units sold in India annually including 50,000 exports
 Maruti Suzuki launched NEXA showrooms to cater to its premium cars market
 The company has been recognized by several awards in the automobile segment in
India

Weaknesses

 Inability to penetrate into the international market

 Employee management, strikes, worker wage problems have affected Maruti's brand
image in the past

Opportunities

 Developing hybrid cars and fuel efficient cars for the future can be an opportunity
for Maruti Suzuki
 Maruti can target tapping emerging markets across the world and building a global brand
 Fast growing automobile market and increased purchasing power

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Threats

 Government policies for the automobile sector across the world

 Ever increasing fuel prices
 Intense competition from global automobile brands and cheaper brands can
hurt Maruti Suzuki's business
 Substitute modes of public transport like buses, metro trains etc
 Threats from chinese manufactures
 Competiton from second handed cars

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 CHAPTER - 7

CONCLUSION

Automobile market today is very dynamic & competitive with a range of players and
products. There are many reasons for the impressive growth of the Indian passenger car
Industry. Some of these are easy availability of vehicle finance, attractive rate of interest and
convenient instalments. In today‘s cutthroat competition it is very difficult to survive. Stiff
competition has forced manufacturers to be innovative and responsive to customer demands
and needs. Maruti Suzuki India Limited is a leading company in Indian Automobile sector
which occupies prominent place due to its innovative strategic marketing, promotional, Brand
positioning, advertising strategies. In today‘s scenario the success of company lies in
structuring and restructuring the marketing strategies and continuous innovation of product
and services. The Maruti Suzuki has a huge market and has left no stone unturned to satisfy
the customers. It has models in every segment of the automobile market. Maruti Suzuki
stands for value as much as it stands for performance. In spite of rising input costs, the
company tries their best to keep prices down. Their running costs and resale values are
unbeatable too. Competitive strategy of this company facilitated healthy profit and customer
satisfaction and its recognition as a company which stands for environmental concerns.

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REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maruti_Suzuki

https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-maruti-suzuki/

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