The largest domestic passenger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki has created its image and recognition in the market over many years in the past. It offers a complete range of cars from entry level Maruti 800 and Alto to hatchback Ritz, A-Star, Swift, Wagon-R, Estillo and sedans Dzire and SX4. It has Maruti Eeco in the C segment and sports utility vehicle, the Grand Vitara. It was the first company in India which had taken up mass-production and successfully sold more than millions of car.
Despite its strong position in the market, Maruti Suzuki has not been able to escape a few hiccups in its history, the latest being the labor strike at its Manesar plant in Haryana.
The workers at the Maruti Suzuki did not want a hike in wages or any improvement in their working conditions. They fought for the right to form a trade union which was an unusual scenario in the new industrial ecosystem, in India. About 3,000 employees of the Manesar plant went on a strike on the 3rd of June 2011. The strike was in a plea to register a new union – the Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU). The workers had applied for the registration, but the management did not support this act of the workers. Following the tripartite agreement between the management, workers and the Government of Haryana the strike was called off after a period of 14 days.
The company was impacted to a large extent due to the labor unrest last year, which had driven it to bear the losses of Rs.500 Crore and more. The profits suffered by 63.6% in the quarter, recording just 2.06 million as compared to the 5.65 billion in the corresponding time, in 2010. However, the company was not ready to compromise on it deliverables to its customers. MSI has now come up with the idea of sourcing 1 Lac diesel engines annually from the well-known supplier Fiat India. These engines will be used in all the Maruti Suzuki diesel variants starting with Maruti Swift, Ritz, Swift Dzire and SX4 sedan.
Maruti Suzuki has one last ray of hope during the last quarter of the FY 2011-2012. The company hopes for a promising year in 2012 with the upcoming launches of the Maruti Swift Dzire CS followed by the Maruti Ertiga MPV and the Maruti XA Alpha all of which will leave the consumers satisfied as ever.
