To boost sales in the current challenging market conditions, Maruti Suzuki has increased its focus on the relatively untapped rural market across the country. The company first launched and then strengthened its ‘Ghar ghar mein Maruti’ campaign.
The strategy seems to be paying off. Two years after the rural drive was initiated, sales from these areas comprise 12 per cent of Maruti’s total sales.
“In the past six to eight months, we have created new initiatives for the rural markets,” says Mayank Pareek, executive officer (marketing and sales) Maruti Suzuki. There are around 660,000 villages in India, a sizeable number of which Maruti has already penetrated.
The company has appointed 3,000 local villagers as resident dealer sales executives, who promote sales in their villages. They are supported by over 186 extension counters. Maruti plans to double the number of its outlets in rural India from 231 to 450 by 2011. It also plans to sell 250,000 cars annually in rural India by that time.
