The country's largest auto maker, Maruti Suzuki India Limited decided to cover up 1 lakh villages by March next year. The news comes as a consequence of the company being unable to perform well in 2013. Maruti Suzuki India had proposed to cover up majority of rural areas almost 5 years ago and the plan is coming to an execution gradually. In the present year when its sales dipped to a worse level, it was the rural areas which stabilised company's growth.
Speaking to the media while the declaration, the Chairman of Maruti Suzuki India Limited, RC Bhargava said, “The industry has seen a decline in sales by about 4-5%this year. On the other hand, rural sales — which accounts for about 30 %of our total sales -- have grown by 18 % in the April-November this fiscal. had it not been for the rural market, the company would have had an even tougher time and we would have been in similar mess like the rest of the industry.” He also added, “We have been giving emphasis on rural markets. Last year, we had covered 44,000 villages and till November this year, we have presence in 60,000 villages and by March next year, we will have a presence in one lakh out of a total of 6.51 lakh villages in India.”
At present, the company claims to have 700 outlets in rural areas accompanied by workshops who are authorised by the company to carry out repair work. Keeping the overall auto market scenario in consideration, Bhargava also said, "In terms of retail sales, for the fiscal till November we are 1 per cent up from that of last year. We are hopeful that we will be able to match last fiscal's numbers.” Due to changing policies of the international market, the company claims to fall short in exporting its products. It aims to export 1.2 lakh units in the global market but believes that the same would not be accomplished if the abovementioned condition persists.
The low demand for cars has put Maruti Suzuki India in such a dilemma that it is not planning any expansion in the country. The Gujarat plant is asserted a “Cold Storage” by the company and it believes that expanding the industry is of no use when there is no demand. Bhargava quoted on this regard, “We have the land, boundary wall has been erected but we are not undertaking any capacity creation. We have not decided when we will start work at the Gujarat plant.” They are surmising that the general elections, to be held next year, will bring a hope in boosting the economic growth and somehow bringing the manufacturing strength back on track.
However, the company is rigid on its forthcoming schemes and maintains the fact that its research and development centre is on progress and the project is expected to be completed in 2016. The centre is located in Rohtak and will be the first such facility in India, while the other 3 are situated in Japan. The company aims to stand at an aggressive level in the next year with its upcoming launches in almost all segments of automobile industry.
