Suzuki  leads the  Indian passenger car market,  and the success of the company cannot be attributed to its brand name  alone.     For instance,  the wagon model of Tata, named  Estate didn’t get expected response from the  Indian market, so was the response to Suzuki’s Baleno Altura.  Indians have  accepted the  vehicles of  almost all the manufacturers operating in the country  at one time or the other.   In fact, Indian car buyers have presented   good opportunities for almost all the manufacturers, but why majority of them fail to achieve a double digit market share?

Of late Renault Kwid registered good sales since it was launched in India.  In the eleven months from December 2016 to October 2017 average monthly sales of Suzuki Alto was 16929 cars per month where Renault Kwid sold 8050 cars per month on an average.  Given the network of the Suzuki is 5.5 times that of the Renault and the sales of Alto is just 2 times that of Kwid, it goes to prove that the sales network  of Suzuki alone is not helping the company to maintain the leadership in Indian car market.  It is also to be noted Renault is a late entrant in the Indian market so benefits of  being the first or early entry into the market is only partially true.  So, it’s not the network or being the first alone which sustain a company.

According to a  UN survey on international migrant trends  in 2015 1.6 crore Indians are  living abroad.  So they are used to the  products  and are well aware of the quality and durability of other manufacturers.  For example, there are approximately  30 lakhs Keralites in Gulf countries. The market leader in the car market of those countries is Toyota mostly followed by Nissan or Hyundai.  But, only a few of the Keralites   prefer a Toyota for themselves in India.  It is notable that in 2014, Suzuki had 52.5 per cent of the Kerala market while its share was 42 per cent at the national  level.

Various studies prove that  market leader in India  doesn’t rank high in terms of the ease of sales processes and procedures adopted till the delivery of the new vehicle.  Even it does not find itself in the first three places.  Sales satisfaction improves when more focused efforts are made  to increase the conversion from the part of the dealer.

Similarly, Suzuki is not the highest ranked when it comes to the facilities provided by the dealers to the customers.  It is to be noted that Tata ranks very low  among the manufacturers in this respect.

The same way, Indians don’t perceive Suzuki cars as the most dependable cars in each and every segment.  Other than in the entry level compact segment, the market leader’s products don’t find a permanent place in other segments.  Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and  Ford have products which are most dependable  in some of the  segments.

With respect to the appearance of the vehicles and features  provided in the car, only a very few of  the market leaders products  find its name in the list of  well designed and feature rich  cars available in India.

So where the things are  going right for some  and against for  other  manufacturers.  In terms of post sales service or after sales service, Suzuki is unbeatable as they are the top ranked in keeping their customers happy.  That’s  easier  said than done to keep such a vast number of customers satisfied with after sales service.  In the list first four ranks are held by Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra and Tata, with Suzuki being ranked first  most of the times.   Toyota and Ford  which ranks first in sales satisfaction, ranks much lower  in the list of manufacturers who keep their customers satisfied in  after the sales service.

So,   can it be inferred that the automobile manufacturers especially passenger car makers who give more focus to keep their existing customers satisfied  gain more new customers and others who   focus more of their efforts on acquiring  new  customers than  on keeping their existing customers satisfied fail to add considerable new numbers.    At least, the data says it so.