Maruti Suzuki re-aligns export strategy, ships its millionth car

April 30: Maruti Suzuki India has achieved yet another landmark. Earlier today, the carmaker exported its one millionth vehicle – a red-colored A-star which left Mundra port along with 2,200 other vehicles, headed for various international destinations including Switzerland, Malta, Sweden in Europe and Algeria, Egypt and Morocco in the non-European destinations. The millionth car will be sold in Denmark.

Commenting on the achievement, Shinzo Nakanishi, MD and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said: “A million cars in overseas markets is a significant milestone for us. Two years ago, Europe was a strong destination for us. We have aligned our exports strategy in line with the changed scenario in export markets. The market for us has shifted significantly from Europe to non-European countries. While the A-star, marketed under the ‘Suzuki Alto’ and ‘Suzuki Celerio’ badges in international markets, was doing well, we also worked on identifying alternate non-European markets. This strategy has helped us retain our export numbers after European nations withdrew their scrappage incentives.”

In 2009-10, Maruti Suzuki’s total exports were over 147,000 units, of which over 75 percent were to Europe. By 2011-12, due to the company’s changed export strategy, the share of non-EU export sales shot up sharply from 23 percent to 66 percent. While the top five EU markets for Maruti cars are the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, Germany and France, the top five non-EU markets are Algeria, Chile, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Nepal. With today’s shipment of 1,500 units for Algeria, that country also attains the landmark of being the one to import over 100,000 units from Maruti Suzuki. Meanwhile, the carmaker has revealed plans to expand its presence in newer markets including the ASEAN region.

Maruti’s best-sellers abroad

Of the million Maruti Suzuki cars that ply on the roads of over 125 countries across five continents, the A-star has emerged as the fastest moving brand in exports. Within 38 months of its first shipment in January 2009, it has clocked exports of over 300,000 units. With over 136 variants, the A-star is exported to over 100 countries across the world. In cumulative sales, the A-star is followed by the Alto with over 250,000 units and Maruti 800 with 226,000 units.