It’s obvious that Suzuki isn’t surviving the global downturn on US sales. Stateside, the Japanese automaker’s sales fell over 50 percent last year, with only 38,695 vehicles sold. Globally, Suzuki sold 908,302 units, meaning fewer than one out of 20 Suzukis sold worldwide were in the US market. That’s no big surprise as Suzuki has long focused on developing markets for growth. What is surprising is that Suzuki’s Indian joint venture Maruti actually outproduced its parent company, racking up 966,399, of which about 130k were exported. Wilder still, Maruti sold 967,581 units last year, more than it could produce and more than Suzuki produced worldwide. Suzuki owns 54 percent of Maruti, the best-selling brand in the Indian market by a healthy margin. The Indian market grew by 19 percent last year, while the Japanese market fell by ten percent.
9 Comments on “Suzuki’s Indian JV Sells More Cars Than Suzuki Produces...”
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Laugh all you want at Suzuki. That’s an enviable position for Saab.
who’s laughing? I actually wish Suzuki had a stronger presence here Stateside. Unfortunately, they’ve had too many “meh” cars in their lineup…although I am actively searching to test a SX4…something about a small hatchback with AWD capability intrigues me. If Suzuki had thought to bring more interesting vehicles to the table (instead of forgettable variants like the Reno and Forenza) then maybe…just maybe, they’d have a stronger foothold here in America. But then, they wouldn’t be the only ones that would be prospering sans a US presence…
I like the SX4 too. If they can get their fuel consumption down, I’d be even more impressed.
And yes, the Reno and Forenza did damage to Suzuki’s image. They should leave the Daewoo re badging to hopeless cases like GM.
Looks like this car, C-pillar back, is where the Mercedes SLS AMG designers got their cues. Why, even the SLS’ headlamps are reminiscent of the Swift.
Mercedes messed up because the SLS doesn’t even look this good. The Veyron finally has some competition for ugly cars for rich guys.
Pray tell, what is the abomination portrayed in the photograph? A pregnant Suzuki Swift?
The red sedan pictured is India-only Suzuki Dzire. It is the hottest sedan in its class thanks to Fiat sourced 1.3L Diesel which produces 150 lbft torque and 40 mpg.
Why would anyone buy that instead of the Swift?
That pic looks like it was Photoshopped. Look around the tail-lamp for instance.
Also, if you look the website that this pic was sourced from (vicky.in), the caption for the image reads “an image(or an artistic impression) of Suzuki’s swift sedan from an auto web (sic)”. Moreover this “artistic impression” is circa 2007, from almost a year before the car was actually shown in public.
The real Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire arguably looks much better . A quick google image search for “Suzuki Swift Dzire” will tell you that.
As for the need for a sedan version of the Swift, the Dzire is Maruti Suzuki’s entry level sedan, slotted below the SX4, which is their only other sedan in the Indian market.