Maruti eyeing dealerships in 1 lakh villages by March 2014

Always expect Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) to come up with something hilarious and out-of-the-box, as this time the company has decided to step in the rural markets more aggressively in order to enhance its sales graph. As evident, the Indian auto-industry is certainly not going through the best of times and while most auto-makers are trying to consolidate their presence by extending network in urban areas, Maruti has set its eye on the rural markets that contributes up to 30% of its total sales.

Maruti has set a goal to open dealerships and service centers in one lakh village in India by March 2014. Commenting on the same, RC Bhargava, MSI Chairman, told," We have been giving emphasis on rural markets. Last year, we had covered 44,000 villages and till November this year, we have presence in 60,000 villages and by March next year, we will have a presence in one lakh out of a total of 6.51 lakh villages in India," As of now, Maruti owns 700 outlets in rural areas and they also comprise of service centers who are entitled to repair any under warranty vehicle up to a certain extent. Additionally, 650 mobile vans have been an instrumental component of Maruti's ever growing popularity as they service a vehicle even at customer's home.

RC Bhargava also shed light over the uncertain future of Maruti's Gujarat plant as he said that it is currently lying "in cold storage". He further added that, "There is no point in creating additional capacity when there is no demand. We have the land, boundary wall has been erected but we are not undertaking any capacity creation. We have not decided when we will start work at the Gujarat plant,"