Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) has decided to offer Grand Vitara, a popular sports utility vehicle from its parent company Suzuki, to Indian consumers. Maruti has asked government permission to import Vitara and its variants as completely built units (CBUs) which are proposed to be sold through its dealer network.When contacted, MUL managing director Jagdish Khattar confirmed that the company plans to introduce Vitara in the Indian market but declined to give more details.In its application, the market leader says it will not undertake domestic retail trading activity, and is importing CBUs as a secondary activity. The company plans to import CBUs of the 2.5 litre engine Vitara and assess the market potential of the model before undertaking local manufacturing.Under government policy, auto companies have to seek approval for import and sale of CBUs in India. General Motors, Honda Siel Cars and DaimlerChrysler India have already taken government permission to import CBUs. Recently, Hyundai Motor India also got government nod to import CBUs of an entire range of models.Analysts say the CBU route is becoming popular with auto companies for launching models in the top end and niche segments, which if were locally manufactured, would be highly capital intensive. Also, these models are not economically feasible propositions as the Indian market has been growing at a very slow pace. Preliminary indications suggest that during April to September 2002, the passenger car market has grown by 3.5 per cent.After taking the drivers’ seat, Suzuki Motor Corp is making its subsidiary Maruti Udyog a production base as well as an export hub for ‘volume cars’ for the global market. Besides making India as an export hub for Alto, Suzuki is also considering a second model which will be exported to the Japanese major’s markets abroad.
