Cases in Marketing

Suzuki Swift
Introduction
Established in 1981.
Launched Maruti 800.
USP was fuel efficient, Cheap vehicles.
Monopoly – for more than a decade.
CAGR – 25%.
Launched International models in India in the mid
90s
Category Type Length in mm
A1 Mini – Up to 3,400 mm
A2 Compact – 3,401-4,000 mm
A3 Mid-size – 4,001-4,500 mm
A4 Executive – 4,501-4,700 mm
A5 Premium – 4,701-5,000 mm
A6 Luxury – 5,001mm and above
Source: www.marutiudyog.com
Presence in A1, A2, A3 segments.
50.9% market share in passenger car segment in 2004
– 2005.
Strategic tie-ups with finance companies & SBI.
Bike to Car scheme.
A1 – Maruti 800

A2 – Zen, Alto, Wagon R – 54% growth.

A3 – Baleno, Esteem – 109 % growth.

Market share – 17%

UV – Omni, Versa – 9 % Growth.

MPV – Gypsy, Vitara – 46% growth.

Exports declined – 4.5%

Suzuki’s global strategy
Soon after divestment by GOI, Suzuki increased
operations in India by investing more heavily into
product range to overcome new competition from the
Korean players like santro, matiz etc.
Suzuki’s global strategy contd.
Suzuki fought competition in the small car segment
by launching global cars in India

Made Maruti R&D hub for Asia outside Japan

A launch of new compact car was planned on the lines

of needs of European market

The car to be launched was ‘Swift’

Launch of the ‘swift’
A truly global car , swift, was launched in India after
countries like Hungary, Japan and China

Allocation of Rs.200 million for launch and marketing

of the product

All newly rolled out cars such as Wagon R, Maruti

Omni, Maruti 800 etc, came with stickers and
sunshields that proclaimed “My next car is a Swift”
Contd.
Swift was purposefully displayed in showrooms and
other places unlike the industry practice of keeping
the new launch under veil

A dedicated team of 1,000 salespersons, called

‘energisers’ was exclusively formed to promote Swift to
its prospective customers
Contd.
A media agency ‘ Initiative’ started a preview
campaign on various channels, thus creating 16
different ad campaigns

The strategy was to counter ad-avoidance tendency in

viewers
Swift - Adapted for India
Engine & Transmission were modified.

Suspension was strengthened.

Ride height was increased.

Robust HVAC system.

Higher profile tyres.

Paint was customized for Indian conditions.

Competition & Positioning
Swift was positioned in the A2 segment, i.e. compact car
segment

In the same segment, the main competitions were Hyundai’s

‘Getz’, Ford’s ‘Fusion’, Fiat’s ‘Palio’ and Opel’s ‘Sail’

 Getz was its closest competitor

To increase its sales, Swift was priced 10% less than its
competitors
Recent developments
With YOY growth , swift has become a market leader,
another car from the Maruti stable

With its diesel variant in the market , its increasing its

sales by high growth rate

According to ‘The world’s top auto markets by 2010’

Indian automobile market would match the US
automobile market by 2030
CONLUSION
Seeing the market, a fierce intra segment battle is
expected

As Indian customer matures, in order to retain its

share, Suzuki will have to-
 Launch competitive products
 Increase localization contents
 Develop India specific products
 Enter new segments