History
Pre-Suzuki affiliation
The Maruti name can be traced back to a previous company that was established by the third Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's son, Sanjay Gandhi. In the early 1970s, the Indian government initiated the search for a small car manufacturer. At that time, India had already been manufacturing cars for several years, and the idea of a more affordable "people's car" had been discussed since the 1950s. Sanjay Gandhi, known for his passion for cars, apprenticed with Rolls-Royce in Crewe of UK for three years. Upon his return in 1968, he recognized the potential of small car production in the private sector. Both the government and the Planning Commission endorsed the concept. Sanjay Gandhi subsequently initiated his automotive project, establishing operations in a rented garage near Roshanara Bagh in Old Delhi. The government issued a letter of intent in September 1970, which allowed Sanjay Gandhi to produce up to 50,000 cars in a year. In August 1971, Maruti Motors Limited was established with Sanjay Gandhi becoming its first managing director. He acquired 297 acres of land in Gurgaon at a cost of approximately Rs 12,000 per acre to establish his Maruti factory. Initially, plans were laid out to manufacture an indigenous car priced at around Rs 8,000. However, the cost of the vehicle escalated to approximately Rs 16,500 (ex-showroom) and about Rs 21,000 on the road in Haryana. Despite the increase in price, the Maruti car remained competitively priced, being Rs 5,000-10,000 cheaper than its counterparts. The first prototype of the Maruti car was completed in 1972, with production anticipated to commence by April 1973, as promised by Sanjay Gandhi. He made the chassis by himself at his workshop, and a Triumph motorcycle engine was used to propel the car. Amid allegations of nepotism, the Maruti car underwent a feasibility test by the Vehicle Research & Development Establishment in Ahmednagar. The prototype failed the test, being deemed unsuitable for road use. Nonetheless, in July 1974, Maruti was granted an industrial license to produce 50,000 cars. However, the actual production output at Sanjay Gandhi's factory fell short of the initial target. Despite the projection to commence production at a rate of 12-20 units per month and escalate to 200 units per day, only 21 units were manufactured by 31 March 1976. Sanjay Gandhi's involvement in politics during the Emergency further complicated the project's progress. Following Indira Gandhi's defeat in the 1977 election and a court order for Maruti's dissolution in 1978, the project faced uncertain prospects. With Indira's return to office in 1980 and Sanjay's death in a plane crash, the Government of India intervened and assumed control of Maruti through legislative measures.Tie-up with Suzuki
Following Sanjay's death, his mother Indira tasked Arun Nehru with evaluating the feasibility of resurrecting her son's vision to develop India's affordable car. Nehru acknowledged the project's potential but emphasized the need for expertise from an experienced manufacturer. Subsequently, a team was assembled to explore potential collaborations with manufacturers globally. The Indian government started engaging in negotiations with Suzuki in April 1982. Following several months of preparations, Suzuki of Japan and Maruti Udyog Ltd. signed a license andManufacturing facilities
Maruti Suzuki has two manufacturing facilities in Haryana ( Gurugram and Manesar), and one manufacturing complex in Gujarat wholly owned by parent company Suzuki which supplies its entire production to Maruti Suzuki. All manufacturing facilities have a combined production capacity of 2,250,000 vehicles annually (1.5 million from Maruti Suzuki's two plants and 750,000 from Suzuki Motor Gujarat). The Gurugram manufacturing facility has three fully integrated manufacturing plants and is spread over . The Gurgaon facilities also manufacture 240,000 '' K-Series'' engines annually. The Gurugram facility manufactures the Alto 800, Wagon R, Ertiga, XL6, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza, Ignis, and Eeco. The Gurugram facility also assembles the Jimny starting from January 2021 solely for export markets. It was reported the Indian-assembled Jimny will be exported to African markets and countries in the Middle East. The Manesar manufacturing plant was inaugurated in February 2007 and is spread over . Initially, it had a production capacity of 100,000 vehicles annually but this was increased to 300,000 vehicles annually in October 2008. The production capacity was further increased by 250,000 vehicles taking the total production capacity to 800,000 vehicles annually. The Manesar plant produces the Alto, Swift, Ciaz, Baleno and Celerio. On 25 June 2012, Haryana State Industries and Infrastructure Development Corporation demanded Maruti Suzuki pay an additional ₹235 crore for enhanced land acquisition for its Haryana plant expansion. The agency reminded Maruti that failure to pay the amount would lead to further proceedings and vacating the enhanced land acquisition. In 2012, the company decided to merge Suzuki Powertrain India Limited (SPIL) with itself. SPIL was started as a JV by Suzuki Motor Corp. along with Maruti Suzuki. It has the facilities available for manufacturing diesel engines and transmissions. The demand for transmissions for all Maruti Suzuki cars is met by the production from SPIL. In 2017, the new Suzuki Motor Gujarat facility was opened. This third facility is not owned by Maruti Suzuki, but instead wholly owned by Suzuki Motor Corporation. Despite that, the plant supplied vehicles to Maruti without any additional cost. Located in Hansalpur, Ahmedabad, the plant has a total annual capacity of 750,000 units. In November 2021 Maruti Suzuki announce to set up of a big plant in IMT Kharkhoda in Sonipat district across 900 acres with an investment of ₹18,000 crores. Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation gives 900 acres of land to Maruti Suzuki for setting up a new plant in Industrial Model Township at Kharkhoda, Haryana. In August 2022 Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone of Maruti Suzuki's new manufacturing plant in Kharkhoda. It will be one of the largest automobile manufacturing plant in the world with the capacity of making a million cars per year. The Maruti Suzuki's Gurugram manufacturing facility will shift to new manufacturing facility in Kharkhoda, Haryana will have four manufacturing plants in which a million cars will be produced annually and the Kharkhoda, Haryana plant will be third largest car producing facility in world. Along with this, the carmaker will invest 35,000 crores into building second manufacturing plant close to their Gujarat plant in the state with a million cars capacity per annum. The operations will commence in 2028-29 taking the production capacity combined to 4.35 million units annually.Controversies
Industrial relations
Since its founding in 1983, Maruti Udyog Limited has experienced problems with its labor force. The Indian labor it hired readily accepted Japanese work culture and the modern manufacturing process. In 1997, there was a change in ownership, and Maruti became predominantly government controlled. Shortly thereafter, conflict between the United Front Government and Suzuki started. In 2000, a major industrial relations issue began and employees of Maruti went on an indefinite strike, demanding among other things, major revisions to their wages, incentives and pensions. Employees used slowdown in October 2000, to press a revision to their incentive-linked pay. In parallel, after elections and a new central government led by NDA alliance, India pursued a disinvestment policy. Along with many other government owned companies, the new administration proposed to sell part of its stake in Maruti Suzuki in a public offering. The worker's union opposed this sell-off plan on the grounds that the company will lose a major business advantage of being subsidized by the Government, and the union has better protection while the company remains in control of the government. The standoff between the union and the management continued through 2001. The management refused union demands citing increased competition and lower margins. The central government privatized Maruti in 2002 and Suzuki became the majority owner of Maruti Udyog Limited.Manesar violence
On 18 July 2012, Maruti's Manesar plant was hit by violence. According to Maruti management, the production workers attacked supervisors and started a fire that killed company's General Manager of Human Resources Avineesh Dev and injured 100 other managers, including two Japanese expatriates. The workers also allegedly injured nine policemen. However Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU) President Sam Meher alleged that management ordered 300 hired security guards to attack the workforce during the violence. The incident is the worst-ever for Suzuki since the company began operations in India in 1983. Since April 2012, the Manesar union had demanded a three-fold increase in basic salary, a monthly conveyance allowance of 10,000, a laundry allowance of 3,000, a gift with every new car launch, and a house for every worker who wants one, or cheaper home loans for those who want to build their own houses. According to the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union a supervisor had abused and made discriminatory comments to a low-caste worker, Jiya Lal. These claims were denied by the company and the police. Maruti said the unrest began, not over wage discussions, but after the workers' union demanded the reinstatement of Jiya Lal who had been suspended for allegedly beating a supervisor. The workers claim harsh working conditions and extensive hiring of low-paid contract workers which are paid about $126 a month, about half the minimum wage of permanent employees. On 27 June 2013, an international delegation from the International Commission for Labor Rights (ICLR) released aAutomotive safety
Maruti Suzuki has been criticized for compromising safety in their products by automotive enthusiasts, journalists, and the Global NCAP, as they are made lighter in terms of kerb weight to achieving higher fuel economy. Starting January 2014, several of their made for India cars were crash tested at Global NCAP, most of which have given disappointing results. Cars like Alto, Swift, Celerio, S-Presso (with driver's airbag), and Eeco which had no safety features like airbags were awarded 0 stars, while Wagon-R and Swift (2018 model year) which had dual front airbags were awarded 2 stars out of 5. Only the Vitara, Brezza (4 stars) and Ertiga (3 stars) have been awarded decent safety ratings. Though Maruti Suzuki claimed that they were following the safety standards mandated by the Government of India, it however only implied with the safety features included in their cars and not the strong body shell or build quality which suffers the impact of the crash. Maruti Suzuki has also come under fire for discrimination with customers in India, by making cars safe meant for exports to European and African markets. The chairman, RC Bhargava stated that "''If carmakers incorporate such features in even entry-level cars, obviously the price would go up, which would lead consumers to opt for two-wheelers, which would be more unsafe''", which attracted criticism. The company, in February 2020, decided not to send their cars to Global NCAP for testing, as they only believe in the Safety Standards set by the Government of India. Following the crash test results of S-Presso, Alejandro Furas, Secretary General of Global NCAP said, “It is very disappointing that Maruti Suzuki, the manufacturer with the largest share of the Indian market, offers such low safety performance for Indian consumers. Domestic manufacturers like Mahindra and Tata have demonstrated high levels of safety and protection for their customers, both achieving five star performance. Surely it’s time for Maruti Suzuki to demonstrate this commitment to safety for its customers?” Alongside, David Ward, President of the Towards Zero Foundation said, "''We have seen important progress on car safety in India, with new legislation introduced by the government and manufacturers like Mahindra and Tata accepting the Global NCAP five star challenge and producing models which go well beyond minimum regulatory requirements. There is no place for zero rated cars in the Indian market. It remains a great disappointment that an important manufacturer like Maruti Suzuki does not recognize this.''" For FY 2022 and 2023, Global NCAP crash tested the Swift, S-Presso, Ignis, and Wagon-R, each of which received 1-star rating, while the Alto K10 received 2-star rating. While these cars came with basic safety features such as ABS and Dual Front Airbags, as mandated by the Government of India, the body structure was rated unstable with inability to withstand further loads. Maruti Suzuki has faced ire by auto enthusiasts and media for prioritizing sales over safety by pricing the unsafe cars much lower than competitors, eventually earning the name "Tin Cans" for the unsafe cars.Anti-competitive dealer policies
In Aug 2021, Maruti Suzuki was fined ₹200 Crore (US$28.57 million) by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for implementing its Discount Control Policy that restrains dealers from offering customer discounts beyond those prescribed by the carmaker.Models
Current models
ICE vehicles
Electric vehicles
Discontinued models
Services
Sales and service network
Maruti Insurance
Launched in 2002 Maruti Suzuki provides vehicle insurance to its customers with the help of the National Insurance Company, Bajaj Allianz, New India Assurance and Royal Sundaram. The service was set up the company with the inception of two subsidiaries Maruti Insurance Distributors Services Pvt. Ltd and Maruti Insurance Brokers Pvt. Limited. This service started as a benefit or value addition to customers and was able to ramp up easily. By December 2005 they were able to sell more than two million insurance policies since its inception.Maruti Finance
To promote its bottom line growth, Maruti Suzuki launched Maruti Finance in January 2002. Prior to the start of this service Maruti Suzuki had started two joint ventures Citicorp Maruti and Maruti Countrywide with Citi Group and GE Countrywide respectively to assist its client in securing loan. Maruti Suzuki tied up with ABN Amro Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Limited, Kotak Mahindra, Standard Chartered Bank, and Sundaram to start this venture including its strategic partners in car finance. Again the company entered into a strategic partnership with SBI in March 2003 Since March 2003, Maruti has sold over 12,000 vehicles through SBI-Maruti Finance. SBI-Maruti Finance is currently available in 166 cities across India. Citicorp Maruti Finance Limited is a joint venture between Citicorp Finance India and Maruti Udyog Limited its primary business stated by the company is "hire-purchase financing of Maruti Suzuki vehicles". Citi Finance India Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citibank Overseas Investment Corporation,Maruti TrueValue
Maruti True service offered by Maruti Suzuki to its customers. It is a marketplace for used Maruti Suzuki Vehicles. One can buy, sell or exchange used Maruti or non-Maruti vehicles with the help of this service in India. As of 10 August 2017 there are 1,190 outlets across 936 cities.N2N Fleet Management
N2N is the short form of ''End to End Fleet Management'' and provides lease and fleet management to corporates. Clients who have signed up of this service include Gas Authority of India Ltd, DuPont, Reckitt Benckiser, Doordarshan, Singer India, National Stock Exchange of India and Transworld. This fleet management service include Leasing, Maintenance, Convenience services and Remarketing.Maruti Accessories
Many of the auto component companies, other than Maruti Suzuki, started to offer compatible components and accessories. This caused a serious threat and loss of revenue to Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki started a new initiative under the brand name ''Maruti Genuine Accessories'' to offer accessories like alloy wheels, body cover, carpets, door visors, fog lamps, stereo systems, seat covers and other car care products. These products are sold through dealer outlets and authorized service stations throughout India.Maruti Suzuki Driving School
Awards and recognition
The Brand Trust Report published by Trust Research Advisory, a brand analytics company, has ranked Maruti Suzuki in the thirty seventh position in 2013 and ninth position in 2019 among the most trusted brands of India.Gold Recognition at LACP 2020/21 Vision Awards..Open Innovation Leader Award (2023).Best Innovative Company of the Year (2023).Best Use of AI in Customer Service (2023).References and notes
External links