Maruti Suzuki India

Maruti Suzuki India Limited manufactures, purchases, and sells motor vehicles, components, and spare parts primarily in India, the rest of Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America. 

The company offers passenger vehicles, multi-utility vehicles, and multi-purpose vehicles. It is also involved in the facilitation of pre-owned car sales, fleet management, and car financing. In addition, the company offers driving school, accessories, insurance, and financing products and services. 

As of March 31, 2022, it had a network of 4,254 workshops across 2,134 cities. The company was formerly known as Maruti Udyog Limited and changed its name to Maruti Suzuki India Limited in September 2007. The company was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in New Delhi, India. Maruti Suzuki India Limited is a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation.

Maruti Udyog Limited was founded by the Government of India on 24 Jan 1981 with Suzuki Motor Corporation as a minor partner, only to become the formal JV partner and license holder of Suzuki in August 2021. The first manufacturing factory of Maruti was established in Gurugram, Haryana, in the same year.

In affiliation with Suzuki in 1982, a license and joint venture agreement was signed between Maruti Udyog Ltd. and Suzuki of Japan. At first, Maruti Suzuki was mainly an importer of cars. In India's closed market, Maruti received the right to import 2 fully built-up Suzuki in the first two years, and even after that, the early goal was to use only 33% indigenous parts. This upset the local manufacturers considerably. There were some concerns that the Indian market was too small to absorb the comparatively large production planned by Maruti Suzuki, with the government even considering adjusting the petrol tax and lowering the excise duty in order to boost sales. 

Local production commenced in December 1983 with the introduction of the SS30/SS40 Suzuki Fronte/Alto-based Maruti 800. In 1984, the Maruti Van with the same three-cylinder engine as the 800 was released and the installed capacity of the plant in Gurgaon reached 40,000 units.

In 1985, the Suzuki SJ410-based Gypsy a 970 cc 4WD off-road vehicle, was launched. In 1986, the original 800 was replaced by an all-new model of the 796 cc hatchback Suzuki Alto and the 100,000th vehicle was produced by the company. Next year, the company started exporting to western markets, when a lot of 500 cars were sent to Hungary. By 1988, the capacity of the Gurgaon plant was increased to 100,000 units per annum.

In the market liberalisation of 1989, Maruti 1000 was introduced and the 970 cc, three-box was India's first contemporary sedan. By 1991, 65 percent of the components, for all vehicles produced, were indigenized. After the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, Suzuki increased its stake in Maruti to 50 percent, making the company a 50-50 joint venture with the government of India as the other stakeholder.

In 1993, the Zen, a 993 cc engined hatchback was launched and in 1994 the 1,298 cc Esteem sedan was introduced. Maruti produced its 1 millionth vehicle since the commencement of production in 1994. Maruti's second plant was opened with an annual capacity reaching 200,000 units. Maruti launched a 24-hour emergency on-road vehicle service. In 1998, the new Maruti 800 was released, being the first change in design since 1986. Zen D, a 1,527 cc diesel hatchback, Maruti's first diesel vehicle, and a redesigned Omni were introduced. In 1999, the 1.6-litre Maruti Baleno three-box sedan and Wagon R were also launched.

In 2000, Maruti became the first car company in India to launch a call centre for internal and customer services. The new Alto model was released. In 2001, Maruti True Value, selling and buying used cars was launched. In October of the same year, the Maruti Versa was launched. In 2002, Esteem Diesel was introduced. Two new subsidiaries were also started: Maruti Insurance Distributor Services and Maruti Insurance Brokers Limited. Suzuki Motor Corporation increased its stake in Maruti to 54.2 per cent.

In 2003, the new Suzuki Grand Vitara XL-7 was introduced while the Zen and the Wagon R were upgraded and redesigned. The four millionth Maruti vehicle was built and they entered into a partnership with the State Bank of India. Maruti Udyog Ltd. was listed on BSE and NSE after a public issue, which was oversubscribed tenfold. In 2004, the Alto became India's best-selling car overtaking the Maruti 800 after nearly two decades. The five-seater Versa 5-seater, a new variant, was created while the Esteem was re-launched. Maruti Udyog closed the financial year 2003–04 with an annual sale of 472,122 units, the highest ever since the company began operations and the fiftieth lakh car rolled out in April 2005. The 1.3-litre Suzuki Swift five-door hatchback was introduced in 2005. 

In 2006 Suzuki and Maruti set up another joint venture, "Maruti Suzuki Automobiles India", to build two new manufacturing plants, one for vehicles and one for engines. Cleaner cars were also introduced, with several new models meeting the new Bharat Stage III emission standards. In February 2012, Maruti Suzuki sold its ten millionth vehicle in India. In July 2014 it had a market share of more than 45%. In May 2015, the company produced its fifteen millionth vehicle in India, a Swift Dzire.

On 25 April 2019, Maruti Suzuki announced that it would phase out production of diesel cars by 1 April 2020, when the Bharat Stage VI emission standards come into effect. The new standards would require a significant investment from the company to upgrade its existing diesel engines to comply with the more stringent emission standards. Chairman R.C. Bhargava stated, "We have taken this decision so that in 2022 we are able to meet the corporate average fuel efficiency norms and a higher share of CNG vehicles will help us comply with the norms. I hope the union government's policies will help grow the market for CNG vehicles." Diesel cars accounted for about 23 percent of Maruti Suzuki's annual sales. 

Maruti Suzuki has confirmed that its first electric car (electric vehicle – EV) will hit roads sometime in 2025. The model will enter into production from 2024-25 and it will be manufactured at the company's Gujarat-based facility.

“To make every journey an experience and every experience a memory, Maruti Suzuki puts people at the centre of everything it does.”

Maruti's vision is clear and specific as it wants to be "a leader in the Indian Automobile industry".