It is said that in the Indian automotive industry, the more you try to catch up with Maruti Suzuki, the more it widens the gap! That's been the case for decades now! And every leader at the helm of Maruti Suzuki has ensured that things stay the way they are. Kenichi Ayukawa, MD & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, is no exception. If you ask him the secret of Maruti Suzuki's consistent and long-term market leadership, he will give you a simple answer - regularly transforming the organisation by continuously redefining the customer experience, both in terms of the products as well as the service. No wonder that Maruti Suzuki products keep dominating the top ten lists of highest number of cars sold every single month in India. Obviously, this has a direct impact on the business. For example, the Company sold a total of 886,689 vehicles in H1 (April-Sep 2017) - a growth of 15.6 per cent with the net profit at Rs 40,407 million, up 3.8 per cent!
"We have always viewed India with confidence and optimism," he says. It is this confidence and optimism that is driving further investment of nearly Rs. 3800 crore in a new R&D centre at Rohtak to build product design and development capability.
"In terms of manufacturing capacity, a second plant is under construction in Hansalpur and a third one has been announced. Suzuki is setting up the first lithium ion battery plant in India in a joint venture partnership with Toshiba and Denso. We are regularly bringing out new products in diverse segments. We are upgrading the sales and service experience for customers through Nexa and Arena brands," Ayukawa shares. "All in all, we are committed to all aspects of the business because we believe India will grow further," Ayukawa adds with confidence.
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