SUZUKI FAN

Interview with I V Rao, Managing Executive Officer, Maruti Suzuki

India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki created a history of sorts by selling over 1 million cars last fiscal.  It was the first Indian automaker to achieve the rare feat of selling over a million units during one fiscal.
 
With the country’s best-selling model Maruti Alto in its armour, Maruti Suzuki, owned by Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation, eyes sales of 1.2 million units this year. It also plans for a ‘Made in India’ car in the true sense of the term by 2012 for Indian market and another brand new model by 2014 for Suzuki’s global markets.
 
However, the company’s Managing Executive Officer, I V Rao, who was in the city to launch Maruti Alto K10, an upgraded version of Alto, told Andhrabusiness.com that Maruti would not launch a rival for Tata Nano as such kind of a model would not be viable for it. He also talked about Maruti Suzuki’s Research & Development (R&D) activities, CNG foray and other issues.
 
Excerpts:   
  
Does Maruti have any plans for a Tata Nano rival? If no, is there any particular reason for keeping away from that niche?
 
We are very clear on this. Maruti has no plans whatsoever to bring out a model that will compete with Tata Nano. We have decided to refrain from stepping into that territory as it’s not financially viable for us to manufacture and market a model at such a low price. Price factor is the main thing ,as it’s the deciding factor on the overall profitability of a product.  So there is no way we are going to do a product like that.
 
You are saying it’s not viable to launch such a model. But how Tata Motors is able to do that?
 
I don’t know how Tata Motors is doing it. You have to ask them
 
There is a view that payment of Royalty and Technical Fees (RTFs) by Maruti Suzuki to its Japanese parent is costing the company dearly. What’s your take on this?

I don’t think it’s true.  Increase in the cost of raw material is putting pressure on the margins of the company, as we don’t pass such burdon on to the customer everytime. As raw material costs form major chunk of our production costs, increase in their prices will naturally have an impact on our production expenditure.    
 
You talked about Research & Development (R&D) activities at Maruti Suzuki. Are there any plans to reduce Maruti Suzuki’s dependence on its parent Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) for technology?
 
Maruti Suzuki is a part of Suzuki Motor Corporation. So, there is no way Maruti Suzuk will be weaned away from its parent in the area of technology. Our R&D activities compliment what SMC is doing in the area of technology development for new models.
 
For examble, entire upgrades for the Alto K10 are conceived and designed at our R&D centre.
 
We are also building a test drive at Rohtak in Haryana where a major R&D centre of Maruti Suzuki is coming up on a 600-acre site.  The test track, once completed, will give huge fillip to our R&D activities and such facility is essential to design and develop new models.
 
We are making huge investment into the test track which will be completed by 2012.
 
Nearly 1,000 people are working for Maruti’s R&D activities and we plan to increase the employee strength to 1,100 soon.  Though attrition rate is very low, it’s not easy to get good engineers. It takes nearly four years to properly train an engineer, but unfortunately they leave the profession and go for an MBA or other studies.
 
How is the work on Maruti’s ‘Made In India’ model going?

We are planning to launch the model in 2012. It will be made in India for Indian market. Nearly 150 engineers are working on it. We have not decided on the price and other details of the proposed new car. As our focus is always on compact car segment, it will be positioned in A2 segment.
 
How is the Maruti Suzuki’s partnership with Volkswagen going to evolve? Is there any manufacturing contract on the anvil?
 
As our Managing Director said recently, Maruti Suzuki has no plans to share platforms with the Volkswagen in the country. However, Maruti Suzuki’s parent Suzuki Corporation and Volkswagen are exploring various options of working together in global markets.  It will take another fews months for the both companies to work out modalities on this front. However, I don’t think Maruti will share its platforms with the German carmaker.
 
Why Maruti is launching five CNG variant models on a single day?
 
Yes, we are launching those models soon. Maruti plans to tap the niche segment effectively. But it’s not an all-India rollout as CNG distribution infrastucture is not available across the country.
 
The company will focus on those areas where the requisite infrastructure is in place. So, we will concentrate on Delhi, Mumbai and also cities like Vijayawada for our CNG foray.

Source: andhrabusiness.com

 Suzuki  has admitted there are larger petrol engine options for Swift available.

As we already know,Suzuki is now confirm Swift’engine option in 1.2 liter only.but current Swift range has a choice of has 1.5-litre and 1.6-litre petrol engines.

According to drive.com.au,Suzuki will focus on finalising the engine and equipment specification of the car.

European models will be fitted with either a 1.2-litre petrol or a 1.3-litre diesel engine, but Suzuki Australia has admitted there are larger petrol engine options available.

We are very excited about the preliminary release of the new car, but we are still some way off finalising the Australian version of the next Swift,” said Tony Devers, Suzuki Australian General Manager.

“The new Swift doesn’t go on sale here until the first half of next year, so we still have some development time to work through.

admin

 Suzuki Domestic sales, export and production  in July 2010

Production
                                                      July         YoY           Total 2010

Domestic production         96,848      133.1%     650,807  126.3%
Overseas production        139,847     106.3%     1,017,104  122.8%
World production             236,695  1  15.8%        1 ,667,911  124.2%

Domestic sale
                                                        July       YoY           Total 2010
Automobile light                47,929      107.4%     355,155  105.1%
Registered car                     5,660         89.0%        39,644          85.8%
Total                                        53,589     105.1%       394,799  102.8%

Export
                                                       July        YoY             Total 2010

Total                                         24,928      173.8%       167,573   152.5%
source: suzuki

Maruti Suzuki to set up third plant at Manesar

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., maker of half the cars sold in the country, is considering building a new factory after economic growth caused industrywide car sales to jump more than 30 percent this year.

The Suzuki Motor Corp. unit may build a factory with a capacity of between 250,000 to 300,000 vehicles a year at Manesar, near New Delhi, Chairman R.C. Bhargava said today by phone
The report said Maruti Suzuki is considering rolling out 250,000 units a year from its additional unit quoting an unnamed industry source.

Maruti, which has a strong following among India’s growing middle class, is already producing at full capacity and has long waiting lists for some popular models.

“The third plant at Manesar is likely to have almost the same investment and capacity like the second one,” the report said quoting a source as saying at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) summit in New Delhi on Thursday.
Bhargava estimated the cost of the proposed factory, which would be built at Maruti’s complex at Manesar in the northern state of Haryana, at 17 billion rupees (362 million dollars).
Now Maruti Suzuki India produces 300,000 cars annually at its Manesar plant while its Gurgaon plant makes 700,000 cars a year.

Maruti Suzuki also working on seconde assembly line at second plant at  Manesar to add more 250,000 unit to 450,000 by september 2011.by adding the third unit will take its overall capacity up to 1.5 million units beyond 2012.

Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director and chief executive of Maruti Suzuki had recently projected the Indian car market to double to five million units by 2015 and that it needs to be prepared to meet the growing demand to maintain its leadership position.

According to SIAM, the market leader sold 2,82,488 cars during the April-July period this, representing a 47.68 per cent share in the overall 5,92,405 units market. In the comparable year-ago period, MSI had a 53.13 per cent share in the 4,40,069 units car market, with sales of 2,33,811 units.

India car market have chance of a China-like boom,Maruti Suzuki CEO

Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest car manufacturer, has hinted at limiting its exports to concentrate on the growing domestic market, where it is facing increasing competition from a host of new entrants in the small-car space.

In its 2009-10 annual report, the Chairman, Mr R.C. Bhargava, has said: “Maruti Suzuki as a company should perhaps deliberately not attempt to export a large part of its production, but keep exports at about 15 per cent of output. We should concentrate more on the domestic market.”

Last year, the company’s exports at 147,575 units accounted for 14.5 per cent of the total sales of 10,18,365 cars. Maruti Suzuki exports to more than a 100 countries.

Mr Bhargava has said for the company to retain its market share, “not only should we adequately increase manufacturing capacity, but also remain very aware of the changing consumer tastes and demands and be flexible in making quick adjustments.”

China-like boom

Maruti Suzuki’s Managing Director and CEO, Mr Shinzo Nakanishi, has expressed optimism that India’s car market will double in the next five-six years. “There is even an outside chance of a China-like boom in the Indian car market, though there is no unanimity yet among experts,” he has said.

According to the annual report, the passenger vehicle market size in India is comparable to some of the developed economies and ranks seventh globally. The presence of a number of global players, the introduction of technology, features, styling and regulation indicate that the market is gradually attaining maturity. “While all indicators suggest a good growth path for the market, a number of entrants are eyeing the same market,” it points out.

Maruti Suzuki’s share in the domestic passenger cars and vans market stood at 51.7 per cent at the end of 2009-10. In the previous year, its market share was 46.5 per cent. According to data provided by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, total passenger vehicle sales (cars, utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles) were 1,949,776 units in 2009-10 against 1,552,703 in the previous year.

Large investments

Mr Bhargava has highlighted the pressure faced by the component industry to keep up with the rapid growth in automobile sales. Large investments, he says, need to be made to keep up with the growing needs of components. “In addition, the component manufacturers now need to invest in building engineering and R&D capacities. We cannot remain dependant forever on foreign suppliers for component design as this will greatly handicap us in meeting the needs of our customers in reasonable periods of time.”

According to him, the tier-2 and tier-3 vendors will pose problems as their capabilities to invest and improve technology are limited. “The tier-1 vendors have to find a solution to this problem,” Mr Bhargava says and adds that the component industry has the opportunity to move to the next level. According to Mr Nakanishi, the company’s suppliers are working closely with it to expand their management bandwidth and cope with the challenges of scaling up.

source: thehindubusinessline

Suzuki Alto and Suzuki Alto Lapin improve fuel efficiency

Suzuki Alto

Suzuki Alto has  improve in the low / sub-transmission mechanism with a two-stage high-CVT which uses a wide gear ratio to enhanced fuel economy and acceleration . Suzuki also improved engine fuel efficiency of vehicles to 25.0km/L (2WD · CVT vehicles). New Improvement Alto also receive 2005 emission standards for vehicles with turbo engines and get eco-car tax of all varient.

As equipped, eco-driving , in addition to adopting a new driver to inform to improve fuel efficiency by reducing power consumption.

Suzuki Alto Lapin
Suzuki Alto Lapin also get  this improvement, wide gear ratio spread, fuel consumption and increase the launch speed, low / sub-transmission mechanism with a CVT uses a new high two-stage all models. NA engine car, the 10.15-mode fuel consumption 25.0km / L achieved a 75 car emission standards, 2005 turbo engine level approved. This car was all grades meet the eco-car tax.

Unit sales targets (monthly) of “Alto Lapin” is 4,000

Maruti Suzuki to focus on R&D, domestic market

With Indian passenger car market set to double in the next 5-6 years, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL) has not only decided to boost its research and design capabilities to meet the growing demand and come out with new products, but has also asked its vendors and suppliers to do the same.

India’s largest carmaker has also decided to focus more on domestic market and limit exports to take on growing competition.

“We need to rapidly develop our own capacity to develop and design products. This is an area of priority for us and with the help from Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation, we are investing heavily in R&D,” MSIL Chairman R. C. Bhargava said in the company’s annual report for 2009-10.

As part of the efforts to build R&D capability, MSIL is coming up with a world-class R&D centre at Rohtak (Haryana).

It invested Rs.173.30-crore in R&D in 2009-10 against Rs.91-crore in 2008-09.

To further consolidate its position in the Indian market, MSIL is also considering limiting exports to 15 per cent of its total output to meet its growing domestic requirements.

“Maruti Suzuki, as a company, should perhaps deliberately not attempt to export a large part of its production, but keep its exports at about 15 per cent of output,” Mr. Bhargava said.

“We should concentrate more on the domestic market. To keep our market share, not only should we adequately increase manufacturing capacity, but also remain very aware of the changing customer tastes and demands and be flexible in making quick adjustments,” he added.

MSIL is concerned as its market share has dropped below 50 per cent as it has failed to meet the demand of fast growing car market where other carmakers are now making inroads.

Exports

During April-July this year, the company’s car exports stood at 50,558 units out of a total of 3.35 lakh units produced, which is about 15 per cent of the total output.

It has an installed capacity of producing 10-lakh units annually. For 2009-10, the company exported a total of 1.48-lakh units. The Indian passenger car market stood at 19.5-lakh units last fiscal, while it is projected to touch 22-lakh units this fiscal.

source:The hindu

India Car Sale Report July 2010 By Model.

A-Segment
1.Suzuki Alto 27.639
2.Maruti WagonR 12.677
3.Hyundai i10 11.385
5.TATA Nano 9.001
6.Hyundai Santro 7.122
7.Maruti Estilo 4.175
8.Maruti A-Star 3.072
9.Chevrolet Spark 2.244
10.Chevrolet Beat 1.702
11.Maruti 800 1.680
B-Segment
1.Maruti Swift 11.828
2.TATA Indica 8.606
3.Ford Figo 6.837
4Hyundai i20 6.486
5.Maruti Ritz 4.685
6.VW Polo 2.178
7.Fiat Grande Punto 1.401
8.Nissan Micra 928
9.Honda Jazz 514
10.Skoda Fabia 460

B-Segment Sedan
1.Maruti DZire 8.492
2.TATA Indigo 7.007
3.Honda City 3.565
4.Hyundai Verna 2.217
5.Hyundai Accent 1.570
6.Ford Fiesta 1.304
7.Fiat Linea 900
8.Mahindra Logan 752
9.Hindustan Ambassador 680
10.Chevrolet Aveo 359

C-Segment

1.Maruti SX4 1.860
2.Toyota Corolla Altis 844
3.Chevrolet Cruze 639
4.Skoda Laura 386
5.Honda Civic 371
6.VW Jetta 292
7.Chevrolet Optra 133
8.Mitsubishi Cedia 98
9.VW New Beetle 22
10Toyota Prius 6

D-Segment

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2012-2013 Volkswagen Polo Suv (VW Rocktan)Based on Next Gen Suzuki SX4 rendering

I just found a rendering of this car some where.but don’t get serious at this picture  because this car is still in developement……

below is Text from http://autoten.com/2010/05/17/2012-volkswagan-rocktan-rendering-and-information/

The agreement with Volkswagen and suzuki cooperation. The first ideas that begin to form is about to create  urban croosover . the car will be Nissan Juke  competitor and Would be based on the next generation of Suzuki SX4 that suzuki was planed  to hit market early 2012 ( date of release may be change whem VW buy stake in Suzuki), as the current car is Suzuki build in Hungary  and China.
 The current car is sent as OEM to fiat to sell as Fiat Sedici but when Fiat have agreement with  Crysler they will build thier own sedici replacement

Actualy now Volkswagan have their B-segment crossover call Cross Polo that position same as SX4 autoten.com suggest that Suzuki may upsize, up price and upgrade quality  of the new SX4 about 2,000-3,000 euro per varient.

The  Volkswagen   version of suzuki SX4 will be name Volkswagan Rocktan
but this name  may change after that . Currently in Wolfsburg  is researching what is necessary to meet a 5-star crash test . consider their  own engines under the hood  to fit. Examples include the 1.6 TDI and 2.0 TDI 140hp diesel units and the 1.4 TSI with 122 hp. the car will compet  with other compact crossovers like the Nissan Juke and Toyota Urban Cruiser

Some media report that the car will also compet with the Nissan Qashqai which have amazing sales, Nissan actually can not keep up production.  The idea is to produce the car with a common platform for both  to save costs, Volkswagen would benefit from cooperation at the level of industrial development, Suzuki is more likely in the mechanical field
 

source: autoten

Suzuki WagonR Japan got minorchange and equip with engine Idle stop system.

Suzuki Motor Corporation get some improvements  for  the minivan, “Wagon R” and “Wagon R Stingray” be released on August 20 will be expanded to models of interest.

New high Low / sub-transmission mechanism with a two-stage CVT . Widen the transmission ratio, enhanced fuel economy and acceleration launch. In addition, new car has improved engine fuel efficiency of vehicles. When the light fuel-efficient operating condition (5MT excluding vehicles)

 The new  engine idling system  with the CVT.improve fuel economy and vice equipped with a fuel efficiency of light vans 1  top 25.0km / L  achieve a 2 (”FX idling”). New turbo 2WD car “emissions standards 75% lower than 2005,” to achieve, expanded tax breaks for eco-car models.

Even a puncture while riding, 80km / h below the speed of 80km around the flat tire that can travel up to “FX Limited” set of options 2WD car manufacturers.

“FX Limited”
Adopted luster yarn sewn seat upholstery with a sense of quality, and sophisticated impression.

 Sales targets (monthly) Wagon R whole series of 18,000 units

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