Suzuki's Indian JV Sells More Cars Than Suzuki Produces

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

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.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Carzzi Carzzi on Jan 28, 2010

    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.

    • Srogers Srogers on Jan 28, 2010

      Mercedes messed up because the SLS doesn't even look this good. The Veyron finally has some competition for ugly cars for rich guys.

  • Tal Bronfer Tal Bronfer on Jan 28, 2010

    Pray tell, what is the abomination portrayed in the photograph? A pregnant Suzuki Swift?

  • Drifter Drifter on Jan 28, 2010

    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.

    • Gsnfan Gsnfan on Jan 28, 2010

      Why would anyone buy that instead of the Swift?

  • Anantha Anantha on Jan 29, 2010

    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.

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