India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday said it has crossed five million in cumulative sales in rural markets. This is nearly 40% of the total MSIL sales in the country.
Over the years, the company has built a robust rural network of 1,700 outlets and has employed over 12,500 specially trained dealership personnel.
Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India Limited said rural markets have a very special place in the company’s business.
“While the aspirations of upcountry customers are very similar to those at metros, they demand more attention and care. The company 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 said.
Maruti Suzuki India started strengthening its strategy towards the rural hinterland with a focused and structured approach in 2008. The rural hinterland was least affected by the global financial crisis then.
Srivastava said the company built on the network with the aim of ‘Ghar Ghar Mein Maruti’ (Maruti in every household) to tap the immense potential in rural India. “To engage deeper, we designed various local-level engagement initiatives,” he said.
Over 4,000 service touch points, which include 235 ‘Service-on-Wheels’ to provide after-sales support to the customers have been set up in the rural areas. In addition, the company has also introduced NEXA, Maruti Suzuki’s premium channel in upcountry markets to align with the changing aspirations of the rural customer.