Maruti Suzuki India ltd. previously known as Maruti Udyog Limited, was incorporated as a joint venture between the Government of India and Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan in February, 1981. Presently, Suzuki Motor Corporation owns equity of 56.2%.
The company is India’s largest passenger car maker having more than 50% market share.
Maruti Suzuki is credited with having ushered in the automobile revolution in the country. The Company is engaged in the business of manufacturing and sale of passenger vehicles in India. Making a small beginning with the iconic Maruti 800 car, Maruti Suzuki today has a vast portfolio of 16 car models with over 150 variants.
Other activities include facilitation of pre-owned car sales fleet management, car financing. The Company has manufacturing facilities in Gurgaon and Manesar in Haryana and a state of the art R&D centre in Rohtak, Haryana and another manufacturing facility in Hasanpur in Gujarat.
Maruti was hit hard during the quarter, as the factories remained closed translating to a complete production halt and an unprecedented drop in sales even as the country remained largely closed owing to stringent lockdowns.
Both production and sales saw a gradual resumption by May-end with necessary precautionary measures in place. As a result, Q1FY21 net sales came in at Rs. 3,678cr (vs. Rs. 18,735cr in Q1FY20).
Overall, the company managed to sell a total of 76,599 vehicles during the quarter, with domestic market contributing about 85.5% of the sales. Average discounts across vehicles were roughly Rs. 25,000 for wholesale, and Rs. 20,000 for retail. Company had inventory levels of 25 days (~80k units) on the back of ~250k units at industry level.
Given the gradual opening up of the economy, sales recovery for the company is expected in the coming quarters. Additionally company's recent tie up with Toyota may provide a much needed boost to sales outside India thereby helping its overall exports as countries came out of lockdown.
The company has put in a lot of cost control measures such as lowering of discretionary spends, so as to improve its margins.
