Maruti Suzuki to increase its presence in 1.5 lakh Indian villages

Maruti Suzuki has seen a massive growth in its sales in the last couple of years and now the Japanese manufacturer is looking at enhancing its reach in India from 1.25 lakh villages to 1.5 lakh villages. The company saw an increase in its rural sales by 23 percent last year to 4,15,380 units in last fiscal, when it posted its highest ever total sales in a financial year. It had posted total sales of 12,92,415 units in 2014-15, which was even better than the previous best in 2010-11.

“In FY14-15 we established presence in 1.25 lakh villages. Target going forward will be to enhance presence in 1.5 lakh villages,” Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, RS Kalsi told PTI. The current rural sales have been affected due to unseasonal rain, however the situation is likely to improve and sales will be moving in the north direction.

He further carried on, “At the start of the year (FY14-15), we targeted to sell at least one vehicle in 1.25 lakh villages. We have been able to reach even the smallest of villages- today more than 7 per cent of MSI’s sales are coming from villages with less than 200 households. Barring the current situation, the long-term growth story of rural India looks good and promising. As infrastructural jobs reach rural India, the dependency on agriculture may come down. Again, companies that have invested in the right enablers are likely to benefit most from this growth”