Staring at overall growth, Maruti Suzuki India Limited has announced its plans to broaden its existence in the rural parts of north east region. Expecting a rapid growth, the company aims to improve its market share in the region over the next 3 to 4 years. On this, the company's Chief Operating Officer for Marketing and Sales, Mayank Pareek was quoted as saying, “North East market has always been very important for Maruti Suzuki. We believe that there is huge opportunity in rural areas of north-east states, besides the major cities.”
The company, which established itself in the North Eastern region around three decades ago, currently sells around 3,000 vehicles per month. Commenting on it, Mayank further added “Currently, this region contributes around 4% to the total domestic volume of MSIL and it is significant considering the socio-geographical nature of the region.” Asked about the expectations from north-east, Mayank told “We are very confident that this share will only rise in coming years as north-east offers vast potential. The region is expected to grow rapidly over the next 3-4 years. However, putting a number to that will not be prudent.”
However, it must be noted that over the past few years, Maruti Suzuki has enjoyed a large market share in the region, which has contributed immensely to its revenue. As of 2012-2013, the auto maker has sold around 11 lakh vehicles out of which a considerable number of 40,000 units attributed to North Eastern states that in turn, contributed to sales revenue of approximately Rs. 1200 crore. The highest contributor to the revenues of Maruti Suzuki has been Assam having a share of almost 60 per cent from the region.
Stressing on the need for good infrastructure, Mayank said “However, as road and other infrastructure develops, going forward we expect the share of other states to increase. The awareness about advantages of a dependable personal vehicle will surely bring more opportunity for us.”
With the expansion of dealer networks and service stations in North Eastern states, the company is looking ahead to increase its sales. Currently, Maruti Suzuki has 39 showrooms in the region while the first one was opened in 1983 around the time when Maruti Udyog Limited commenced manufacturing its cars in India. Apart from it, the company maintains 52 workshops that are spread across different parts of the region. For Maruti Suzuki, its budget models like Alto 800, Alto K-10, Omni and WagonR have remained as best sellers and have driven the growth for it, owing to their low pricing.
Mayank Pareek also told that the company aims to perform well in the North East region while laying their primary focus on expanding its reach in rural areas. He said that the company wants to reach its customer base in far flung areas of the region. As according to him, the models of country's largest passenger car maker have always found deep trust among customers in North East. Based on the potential, “We (Maruti Suzuki) have progressively increased our sales and service network in the region,” he said.
On asked about the company's plans regarding recruiting personnel, Mayank was quoted as saying “At present, we have around 3,000 people working in our sales and service network. As we expand our network, this is likely to increase to around 4,000 over the next three years.”
