Abstract

Maruti Udyog Ltd (Maruti), a joint venture between Suzuki Motors of Japan (eleventh largest vehicle manufacturer in the world and the fourth largest manufacturer in Japan) and the Indian government, is the leader in India’’s automobile market. Maruti has the widest product range among Indian car manufacturers, with ten basic models and more than 50 variants. In 2003, Maruti produced 359,960 vehicles, operating at a capacity utilisation of 103%, against the industry average of 57.8%. Even though Maruti is well ahead of its other rivals, its market share has been declining. As competition intensifies, Maruti has realised the importance of getting closer to its customers. The company has launched various initiatives to improve customer service. Maruti has improved its operational efficiency by increasing productivity, cutting costs and launching new products. By its quality initiatives, Maruti has reduced its defects per vehicle significantly. This case discusses the important measures introduced by Maruti to achieve operational excellence. Maruti Udyog Limited, Cutting Costs, Operational Excellence, Quality, New Product Launch.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Maruti Udyog Limited, Cutting Costs, Operational Excellence, Quality, New Product Launch

Keywords

Maruti, Suzuki Motors, Operations management, Operational efficiency, Maruti production system, Cost reduction, Vendor management, Inventory management, Total productive maintenance (TPM), Quality, Productivity