Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) has crossed the 50 lakh or 5 million unit milestone in rural India sales. At present, nearly 40 percent of total MSIL sales come from rural markets. In FY2021, Maruti sold a total of 12,93,840 units, which means an estimated 5,17,536 units were sold in rural India.

• Maruti has over 1,700 sales outlets across rural areas
• Alto, Wagon R, Swift and Eeco are some of Maruti’s most popular models in the hinterland
• Maruti to expand to 40 more cities, including Tier 2 towns

Maruti Suzuki’s footprint in rural India

With over 1,700 retail outlets in the hinterland, Maruti Suzuki is cognisant of the potential of upcountry market and demand. Also, to tap the changing aspirations of the rural customer, the carmaker has even introduced its premium Nexa retail channel in upcountry markets.

Interacting with our sister publication Autocar Professional, Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director, marketing and sales, MSIL, said that the top six models that sell in rural India are the Alto, Wagon R, Swift, Dzire, Eeco and the Baleno.

Maruti Suzuki’s plans for rural markets

Commenting on the company's rural India mission, Srivastava said, “Rural markets have a very special place in our business. Over the years, we have carefully studied the needs of this segment. While the aspirations of upcountry customer are very similar to those at metros, they demand more attention and care. We adopted the philosophy of ‘Go Local’ with 12,500 specially trained dealership personnel called Resident Dealer Sales Executives (RDSE), who understand the local culture and traditions to fulfil the expectation of these customers.”

He added, “In 2008, MSIL strengthened its strategy with a focused and structured approach towards the rural hinterland, which was least affected by the global financial crisis then. We built on the network with the aim of ‘Ghar Ghar Mein Maruti’ to tap the immense potential in rural India. To engage deeper, we designed various local-level engagement initiatives.”

In another recent interview with Autocar Professional, Srivastava said that Maruti Suzuki India plans to expand to 40 more cities, including Tier 2 towns, over the next few months. This will be specific to its vehicle subscription model, Maruti Subscribe.