India will play larger role in Suzuki roadmap

Suzuki Motor Corporation has targeted sales of 1.93 million cars in Asia this fiscal, up from 1.72 million units sold last fiscal.

The company declared its results for 2014-15 last week where it is evident that India continues to be its most significant growth driver. Sales totalled 1.17 million units last fiscal, up from 1.05 million cars recorded in the preceding year.

In contrast, ASEAN numbers fell to 1.85 lakh from 2.2 lakh cars with Indonesia remaining its largest market with sales of 1.48 lakh units. Thailand, which saw sales of just 20,000 Suzuki cars, will see the Ciaz joining the Eco Car project where the Swift and Celerio are already part of the kitty.

In India, Suzuki’s arm, Maruti, ended the fiscal with a market share of 45 per cent which puts it comfortably ahead of nearest rival, Hyundai Motor.

This has been largely due to products like the Celerio, Alto and Ciaz which have had a positive feedback from the market.

The last five years have seen Maruti market share on a virtual rollercoaster with 44.9 per cent in FY ’11, going down to 38.3 per cent the following year while recovering a tad to 39.4 per cent in FY ’13. It made up ground to finish with 42.1 per cent in FY ’14 before finishing even better with 45 per cent in 2014-15.

The results also indicate the falling proportion of diesel in Maruti’s product portfolio. Of the 1.17 million cars sold, diesel models accounted for 350,000 units with petrol taking up the lion’s share of 821,000 units.

During 2013-14, the share of diesel cars sold was slightly higher at 32 per cent (340,000 units of the total sales of 1.05 million units). Going forward, there is really no reason why diesel should make a comeback especially with the recent hike in prices. The Government’s decision to deregulate diesel prices will also ensure that there is no question of revisiting the subsidy regime when sales of diesel cars soared.

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