Be A Part Of Brand Saga
To Read This Full Story
Welcome
Be A Part Of Brand Saga
Share your own story with us
And Get Published In Brand Saga
The People's Car
The 1969 Asia Highway Rally was held at the Ashok Hotel in Delhi, and a double cylinder - 360 cc Suzuki Fronty Car attended it. After the rally, a gentleman approached Suzuki's team and invited them to his boss's house because the boss's sons were very interested in Suzuki's car.
When the team reached the boss's house, the residence came out to be of the then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. His sons Rajiv and Sanjay Gandhi welcomed the Suzuki team. Sanjay had recently returned from England and was very enthusiastic about his 'People's Car' project. Rajiv was also very interested in cars. After the test drive, the two brothers became interested in Suzuki's car and immediately offered to enter into a technical partnership with Suzuki. Unfortunately, Suzuki was in a very precarious position at the time, and the company was on the verge of sinking in 1970-75.
However, as if the relationship between India and Suzuki was written in destiny. In 1978, Osamu became the chairman of Suzuki, and the company began to transform. He launched Suzuki Alto, a small and compact car. This car proved to be successful in Japan and became the face of the company.
Around the same time, Suzuki had set up a production unit in Pakistan, where a Suzuki engineer was going to visit. During the journey, he read in a magazine that the Indian government was inviting manufacturers to visit India to build 'small cars' and was soliciting applications. The engineer immediately spoke to the chairman. But after going to the Indian embassy and inquiring, he found out that the deadline for sending petitions had expired. He visited the embassy several times, and at the end of the third visit, his application was accepted.
Maruti had faced rejection from companies like Volkswagen and Daihatsu at the time and had no choice but to partner with Suzuki. Suzuki, on the other hand, was the smallest auto-manufacturer in Japan at the time and was striving to show its capabilities. Thus, Maruti and Suzuki merged and established Maruti Udyog Limited in 1982. The chairman of this new company, V. Krishnamurthy and R.C. Bhargava, had no experience in car manufacturing, so Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki held a three-four hour-long meeting with him in Tokyo and explained everything one by one. It was dangerous to venture into an unfamiliar region without any manufacturing culture and supplier base, but Osamu Suzuki was known for such dangers.
Osamu Suzuki personally supervised the new manufacturing plant that was going to be set up in India. Soon, Suzuki launched its successful car 'Alto' in a new form in India under the name 'Maruti 800'. The car was very successful in India and became an identity for small families. Gradually, the company gained a foothold in the low-cost small car market. After the Maruti 800, the company launched many successful models like Omni Van, Gypsy, Alto, WagonR, Swift, Eeco, Ciaz. Today, the company has a market share of about 53% in the passenger car market in India.
Even at the age of 89, while others might be spending time with their grandchildren, Osamu Suzuki is still running the company. Today, to be the CEO of the automotive industry for the longest time (38 years), Osamu considers India as his second home for Suzuki and visits India from time to time. Today, Suzuki is selling more cars in India than in Japan.
And Get Published In Brand Saga