Maruti Suzuki eyes 3 lakh exports in FY25, 8 lakh by 2030: CEO Rahul Bharti

In line with this trajectory, Maruti Suzuki intends to introduce additional models across its expansive export markets, which encompass more than 100 countries. Moreover, the company plans to bolster its distribution network by implementing successful practices adopted in India. These initiatives include facilitating bank finance at dealerships, fortifying service infrastructure, and ensuring parts availability in export destinations.

“Till about three years ago our exports were in the range of 1 to 1.2 lakh cars a year. Both as a national vision and as a business ambition, we decided to scale up drastically and from those levels and in 2022-23 we reached about 2.59 lakh units exports and in 2023-24 we completed 2.83 lakh,” Maruti Suzuki India Executive Director Corporate Affairs Rahul Bharti told PTI.

He further said, “The interesting part of this is that it bucked the trend of industry. While the rest of the car industry exports actually shrunk by 3 per cent, Maruti Suzuki was able to grow by about 9.3 per cent to 2.83 lakh units a year. With this 42 per cent of all cars exported from India are from Maruti Suzuki.”

Bharti stated that the company’s strategy is in harmony with the government’s vision, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to boost India’s exports, aiming for a greater portion of global trade to realize the aspirations of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

“We are not only doing this with existing models. Even for the EV, the start of production of which will be in FY25, we would start export, and export it to advanced markets like Japan and Europe,” he noted.

On the road ahead for exports, he said, “We hope to keep improving it steadily and by 2030 we have a target of 7.5 lakh to 8 lakh units total exports.”

When asked if the company can cross the 3 lakh units mark in exports in FY25, Bharti said, “Yes certainly. It is possible barring any major surprises.”

Sharing the company’s strategy for increasing exports, Bharti said, “We don’t have all the models in all the 100 markets now. Therefore, the way to enhance exports is more model launches in more countries of the world and at the same time more distribution network.”

On the qualitative side, he said, “What we are doing is taking a lot of best practices from India to these export markets.”

He illustrated methods such as facilitating bank finance at dealerships, instilling customer confidence post-sale through after-sales services, ensuring easy access to parts, and establishing an effective customer complaint handling system, all aimed at attracting more buyers in international markets.

“So all these best practices help in giving more confidence to the customer and it reflects in the number of exports,” he said.

During the fiscal year 2024, Maruti Suzuki achieved a historic milestone in exports, reaching 283,067 units, surpassing the previous high of 259,333 units in FY23 and marking a significant increase from the 238,376 units exported in FY22.

Preceding this achievement, the company’s export figures stood at 96,139 units in FY21, 102,171 units in FY20, and 108,749 units in FY19.

In FY24, Maruti Suzuki’s principal export destinations included South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Mexico, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Ivory Coast. Among its top exported models were the Baleno, Dzire, Swift, S Presso, Grand Vitara, Jimny, Celerio, and Ertiga.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Published: 07 Apr 2024, 02:58 PM IST