Suzuki and Maruti both have a solid product plan in place and plan to launch an array of products across a range of segments. The Japanese small car specialist wants to enter bigger segments.
While Maruti Suzuki is the biggest car maker in India and also Suzuki’s biggest subsidiary, the same can’t be said about the automaker’s presence elsewhere. Suzuki faces tough competition in all other countries and doesn’t enjoy the market share or popularity that it does in India. Maruti Suzuki’s success in the Indian market has all to do with its early entry, the manufacturer entered India in 1984 (in a tie-up with the Indian government), facing absolutely no direct competition till 2000, that’s a 16 year home run.
Suzuki now plans to go on a product onslaught by bringing out a slew of new models which will help it increase market presence in more countries. While the Indian market already has Maruti going bonkers with new car launches every now and then, Suzuki isn’t as quick because they can’t get away by developing half-hearted products in developed markets. While its Indian portfolio is quite big, the same can’t be said about its global offerings and in the next few years, the automaker will revise each and every product. The big news is, the next generation Swift will debut in 2016 which is the same year when the next generation Volkswagen Polo will go on sale.
Suzuki will launch six all new cars globally in the next three years including the YRA hatchback and the all new Jimny. While in the Indian context, the Japanese automaker will launch the SX4 S-Cross, YBA compact SUV, YRA premium hatchback, pseudo crossover, 7-seater MPV and the list continues. Clearly Suzuki doesn’t want to play second fiddle to anyone in India and the pace at which new models are arriving from Maruti is a sign of how the automaker is all ready to reply to new found competition in the Indian car market.
