Maruti is 21

The country s biggest carmaker, Maruti Udyog, turns 21 today. It has been 21 years of a rollercoaster ride, only in this case the rollercoaster has gone more up than down. The company today holds a 55-percent share of the market, not a monopoly, but overwhelmingly dominant nevertheless. Maruti Udyog started in 1983, with the notion of making cars for the masses. As a thumb rule, the word Udyog (Udyog is the Hindi equivalent of Industry) in any Indian company indicates that the company has some government involvement, is generally a co-operative and is meant to produce goods aimed at the general population, with a humane attitude about it all, a far cry from the hard-nosed corporate snobbishness that usually is the trait of multinational corporations.
The government s idea of making the car a means of transport for the masses did not meet with complete success, as the passenger car density (8 cars per 1, 000 individuals) of the country will tell. At the time of its entry, 1983-84, Maruti Udyog and the ubiquitous M800 model were faced with a tough opposition in the Indian market - a Morris Oxford wannabe and a relic of the Fiat 1100, both tracing their origin to more than three decades back, hardly something to bother a modern Japanese automobile. As expected, the M800 made quick work out of them.
The next competitor for Maruti would come only in the late 90s, giving the default market leader a decade-and-a-half to consolidate, build up its volumes, amortize costs and make a brand name which today stands head and shoulders above all the other automotive brands in the country. To its credit, Maruti today is as good, if not better, than the other players in the country in any competitive area, from capacity utilization to efficiency. The cars now sell on their merits rather than government support and the company is a well defined professional outfit.
Deepesh Rathore Research Editor deepesh.rathore@supplierbusiness.com For more details on Maruti visit at www.theautodiary.com



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