Wednesday, May 02, 2012
By Shilpa Chopra
Maruti Cars - tightrope walk ahead
Whatever be the predictions for the overall performance of the car industry in India, Maruti India is going to perform better and better. This is not a personal opinion and is based on facts. Back-to-back launches viz. Maruti Swift, Maruti Swift Dzire and recently Maruti Ertiga has also aided to bring this assumption close to reality. Ertiga is said to have already received 22,000 booking and people are swarming in for the latest MPV. The assumption is further backed by Maruti being the most trusted car brand in India. However, the impending hike in fuel prices will be a strong impediment in attaining this goal and alike other car makers it could be a difficult time again for Maruti.
| See More Maruti XA Alpha Photos | Get Maruti XA Alpha Price |
Year 2011 was a period when the largest selling car maker had to suffer a lot, both domestically as well as its exports were also under severe impact due to the strike at its Gurgaon and Manesar plant in India. It was due to this that the car maker suffered a loss and operating profit margin took a downswing by 280 basis points. In order to come out of this slumber, Maruti has desperately tried a lot and had launched new cars one after the other starting the fourth quarter of FY 2011. With the recent addition of Ertiga MPV, it is believed that sales will be back on track fully and will cover the loss that has occurred during the dark phase when Maruti was struck by labor strike. Launch of Maruti small car this Diwali and Maruti XA Alpha SUV next year are also going to help Maruti bear the bad weather.
| See More Maruti XA Alpha Photos | Get Maruti XA Alpha Price |
Industry experts believe that where RBI’s lending rate cut came as a breather for the industry, the awaiting fuel price hike and increase in the price of raw materials could again play spoilsport and further dampen sales that took a slight downward trend after the excise duty hike in the budget. Now that diesel is about to be deregulated, it is sure that diesel prices will be decided by the market and so it will severely impact the current high demand for diesel cars in India.
