The country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki has said that the competition pressure in the Indian auto market is going to be very intense in the ongoing financial year. While at one hand, market is slowing down, on the other hand, a range of new car makers is gearing-up to challenge Maruti with a series of new car launches.
In a statement given to TOI, Mayank Pareek, managing executive officer (sales & Marketing) at Maruti Suzuki said, "Rapidly rising interest rates are the prime worry for the industry as well as for Maruti. Bulging EMIs are keeping customers away from showrooms and if interest rates go beyond the current levels, the industry will have major problems."
It is to be mentioned here that Maruti Suzuki’s growth figures dipped by 3 percent in the April to June period of this fiscal, as compared to a 30 percent growth registered in the same period last year.
The company has forecasted a low single digit growth for this quarter. The company has also shown concern over the continuously rising interest rates that may cause a negative growth by the end of this fiscal.
The segment where Maruti Suzuki India is witnessing a fierce competition from rivals is the compact hatchback segment where a number of international car makers have marked their debut with new age cars, such as Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo, Nissan Micra and Toyota Etios Liva. However, the launch of new Swift next week is expected to hurt competition substantially.
