Maruti to concentrate on small cars in India

India’s largest car manufacturer Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) has decided to concentrate on the small car market in India. While announcing the company’s forthcoming initial public offer (IPO) as part of government’s disinvestment process, MUL’s managing director Jagdish Khattar told the newspersons that “we at Maruti believe that India will remain a small car market for many more years. Presently the penetration rate in India is six cars per 1,000 people which is half compared to even Pakistan and Sri Lanka.”

Khattar informed that small car constitutes 80 per cent of the domestic car market. Maruti has 62 per cent share in this and growth lies in this segment. “MUL is ready to fulfil the demands of 40 million two-wheeler owners and those who don’t own any vehicle as they are the most potential buyers of Maruti,” he added.

Kicking off MUL’s roadshows in the capital ahead of its IPO, the visiting chairman and CEO of Suzuki Motor Corporation Osamu Suzuki said “Maruti would start exporting cars to South East Asia, as part of plans to make the company an R&D hub for cars in Asia outside Japan.”