Marketing Management: Indian Cases, 2nd Edition by Pearson

CASE 12

The Call of the Competition

Competition is a necessary evil in marketing.

Maruti Suzuki (hereafter referred as Maruti or Suzuki interchangeably) has been a ­long-reigning ­monarch of small cars in India. It’s been more than three decades when India’s first Maruti 800 was launched as a modern personal transport, a sense of pride for Indians. Since then, the brand has evolved, adapted and updated itself to changing scenarios, and have had an amazing ­transformational journey.

With South Asia witnessing rising economic levels, came in shifts in consumer choices. To fit itself aptly into the changed milieu and aspirations of these economies, Maruti has stepped past compact cars and today carries within its stable, models for different upscale ...