Maruti. Suzuki. Two brands that once were separated joined hands in 2000. And they became one of the most successful automobile brands the world has ever seen. They account for about 50% of the domestic market in India. They have vehicles for the upper class, middle class, and even the lower class. A household name, Maruti Suzuki's history cannot go unsaid.
Looking at the journey of Maruti Suzuki form the point of view of the BCG Matrix, the BCG matrix shows the market growth. It has four areas. The first is the 'star' of the company. These are the products that have a high market share and growth. The second is the products that are the 'question marks' of the brand. They have a low market share and high market growth. The third are the 'cash cows' of the brand. They have a high market share and a low market growth. The final is the 'dog' of the brand. These are the products that have a low market growth and share.
Starting from the year 2000, when both the brands became one, this was the year that they launched Alto. A small car for the middle-class family, it was affordable and low-maintenance. When it was introduced into the market it quickly became a star, while later on it got reduced to a cow.
When they introduced Maruti True Value, a sales purchase and trade of pre owned cares in 2002, it was an instant hit. A new venture, it attracted both consumers and customers alike. It continues to reign as a star product under the hat of Maruti Suzuki.
In 2005, the extremely famous Swift was launched. From its introduction to its sales today, it continues to remain a star amongst Maruti Suzuki's other products. While many other variations of the same has been launched, the original continues to be much sought after.
During 2007-08, they launched a new variation of the WagonR and this year also witnessed the launch of the brand new SX4. While WagonR thrives as a cow in the company, SX4 does not even exist anymore.
At the end of this decade, Maruti Suzuki faced a situation that made them a question mark in their journey. All this while when they were producing vehicles for the middle-class man, they realised that the rich man wanted a car that was made for them. That's when they realized if they didn't produce for the high-class man, they would be facing losses in the future. That's when they decided that they have to start the manufacturing of sedans, and SUVs as well.
In 2010-11, Suzuki Kizashi India launched its first sports luxury sedan. It became a cow in the brand's portfolio.
In 2012, the Delhi Auto Expo bore witness to the introduction of Ertiga- Life Utility Vehicle. This was Maruti Suzuki's entry into UV segment. Although the vehicle itself became a cow of the brand, the brand became the star it earlier was because of its introduction.
In 2014-15, it launched a series of successful sedan cars which were known as Ciaz. Initially it started off as a star of the brand and now, continues to shift between star and cow. The S-Cross was also launched in the same year. A hybrid of a sedan and an SUV, it continues to be a star of the brand.
In 2015, Maruti launched Nexa, a dealership for the sealed of premium vehicles. Nexa continues to strive as the biggest star of Maruti Suzuki.
One of the most successful cars to be sold from Nexa, Baleno was launched in 2015-16. Very shortly after its launch, there was a 6-7 waiting period for the car. It reigns as a star.
In 2017, to continue their great journey, Maruti Suzuki declared that they would be opening up modernized retail stores. This was another feather in their cap.
As of 2020, Maruti Suzuki released many other cars such as Spresso, Brezza etc and many other cars.
Coming to understanding Maruti Suzuki from the point of view of the Product-Market grid or the Ansoff's Matrix, we have to know that the grid has 4 parts. The first is market penetration where we see how the existing products in exisiting markets are faring. The second is product development which is about new products in existing markets. The third part is market development where they bring existing products into new markets. The last part is diversification which is new products in new markets.
Maruti Suzuki has market penetration with quite a few cars of theirs. While some do not penetrate the market that well, others like the Baleno have penetrated the market very well.
The product development is an area Maruti Suzuki performs very well in. They keep on introducing and launching new products in their Indian market.
Coming to market development, Maruti Suzuki has a market in Japan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan etc. These markets have been around for a long time. They have the existing vehicles. Based on the case study that I did, I did not find a new market that the brand has invested in recently.
Finally coming to diversification, my case study did not result in me finding a scenario where the brand has introduced a new product in a new market.
So, this is all about the journey that Maruti Suzuki went through and still is going through.
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