Maruti India, Unpleasant Scenario for the No.1 Passenger Car Maker

Maruti suzuki India Ltd is an undisputed leader in the huge Indian automobile industry. It started from being Maruti Udyog Limited. The company has rolled out histories from its garage, and into the automobile market with its most popular four-wheeler passenger car model being Maruti 800. The company changed from Maruti Udyog to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd on September 17, 2007. Acclaimed cars from its garage which have become the apple of everyone's eyes are cars like Maruti Swift, Maruti Ritz etc. The hatchbacks from the Maruti house are the best in Indian Market.

But the recent turn of events is disheartening for every Indian across the world to hear about. The sorry state of labor affairs in India, has become a flaring issue. Not that it is the first reason for which we feel sorry for the affairs in our country, but the brutal, almost inhuman situation created at the Maruti cars India, Manesar plant is atrocious enough to feel deeply sorry. It stirred up sentiments and brought back the thought, after the famous and the most discussed novel “Lord of the Flies”. Humans capable of brutality is not new, but this level of intolerance and portraying that kind of rage, where people have gone man-hunting is seriously awakening. This is not only the most unpleasant scenario for the no.1 passenger car maker, but the whole of India.

Maruti India, is the father of passenger car maker in India, that means its management is handling its work force from quite a long time. The situations have changed with the changing economy but of course not the mindsets, we believed. It was only yesterday that Maruti India was awarded with the “Significant Achievement Award”, and to think of the degraded situation now is heart rendering. On that uproar though Maruti has come up with plans of huge lay offs. Up to 600 of 1,500 permanent workers could be fired for the violence. People and governments all over the world have condoled and condemned the massacre like situation, which claimed one life and left some injured and probably many scared for life.

For the recurrence to be avoided there has to be made a pious wish and will and need to see beyond the normal peculiarities of the conflict and the culpability or otherwise of Maruti workers and managers. Because if looking at the statistics, at the end of 2011 fiscal year, Maruti held 44% share of the passenger car market, which has boiled down to 38.4% at the end of fiscal 2012. Amid huge competition among the country's auto makers, market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is gradually losing a share of the automobile boom due to labor trouble that reduces the production of popular models. The reason is said to be not only the tough competition, but also the inability to produce its bumper selling models with diesel engines, such as Swift, the Dzire and the SX4. Going by figures the Swift sells 18,000 units a month on average, while the Dzire pumps 12,000 units, whereas the Maruti's SX4 sedan sells 4,000 units every month. Recently, I shared that Tata Safari Storme, the Long Impatient Wait.