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`Let's hope that Maruti is listening to these issues and correcting its outlook to its customers'

Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000, 04:57:26EST
Subject: Maruti hits the skids, sales plummet

I tune in to rediff at least thrice a day. I appreciate your concern at Maruti's declining market share. But Rediff seems to be like every other publication who has been doing its best to criticise Maruti.

I am a motoring fan and I have been following the Indian car market keenly. A couple of my observations are stated herewith.

1. JD results need to be seen from the fact that Maruti sells four lakh cars every year to a varied public. The others in the fray are playing in niche markets and target mostly metropolitan buyers. In fact, Maruti and Hyundai had the same ranking in the satisfaction index. This shows that if you put in the volumes, Maruti would beat Hyundai hands down.

2. June's results of Maruti need to be looked at with a 15 day-maintenance shutdown in Maruti.

I believe that if car sales graphs are included in your report, they would be more authentic.

Let us hope that Maruti is listening to these issues and correcting its outlook to its customers.

Ganesh Sadasivam

Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000, 13:39:44EST +0530
Subject: Maruti hits the skids, sales plummet

The MUL director should be told that his organisation needs to focus on quality and customer service.

Sandeep Sehgal

Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000, 12:06:26EST +0530
Subject: Maruti hits the skids, sales plummet

It was indeed a good report showing statistical data on sales figures. How about including a price- performance ratio of Maruti 800/Santro/Matiz and featuring some customer experiences?

Romit Dalalm

Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000, 09:48:44EST +0530
Subject: Maruti hits the skids, sales plummet

I believe that customers are beginning to lose faith in Maruti. It is rather surprising that Maruti saw it prudent to release a plethora of new features and models soon after the release of the new entrants in the car market. I wonder, if the Wagon R "was" Japan's best-selling car a few years ago, why was it not released/modified for Indian conditions?

You need to keep a consumer happy and satisfied by showing him both sides of the coin. Maruti should have kept up its image by informing its consumers about new technologies and improvements in automotive technology and by incorporating the same into their products.

One great example is Malaysia's Proton brand. Although the government imposes a high import tax on imported vehicles, that does not stop Proton from keeping its range of offerings fitted with state of the art technology and innovations.

A consumer's mindset is to be nurtured and not juggled around by offering outdated technology at sky-high prices. Maruti is now in a situation of its own making.

Ashish Mathur

Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000, 20:14:21EST -0700
Subject: Maruti hits the skids, sales plummet

You have quoted JD Powers to state that one reason why people are not buying the Maruti is dissatisfaction with the sales process. I think this is ridiculous. What this implies is that if a person experiences poor sales service, he is likely to buy another car (and is highly likely to spend more on it).

There is other research to show that nobody remembers the sales process beyond six months. Do consult with other research majors (ORG MARG, IMRB & Gallup) to confirm this fact.

If Maruti is not doing well it is because of the following reasons:

1. Poor brand image: There are too many Marutis on the road, it is no more a status symbol to own a Maruti.

2. Technology: Compared to competition, the technology on Maruti cars is poor.

3. Monoploy disease: Any monopoly player suffers from some common diseases like for instance in terms of an efficient service network.

Poor PR Maruti's PR is a disaster.

Yamini Sudarshan

Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000, 22:53:35EST +0530
Subject: Maruti hits the skids, sales plummet

The report is certainly well researched and full of figures. However, I don't think that MUL ever "sneered" at any of the others players in the market.

V Sathe

Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000, 19:57:01EST +0400
Subject: Maruti hits the skids, sales plummet

The report on Maruti is interesting, but surprisingly it does not mention TELCO's Indica at all in the small car segment

Sachin Gokhale

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