Maruti to customise cars, riding on logistics hubs

For a company that sells four out of five top-selling cars in India, and coming first on sales satisfaction very often, making cars to the exact liking of any particular customer might sound preposterous. Yet Maruti Suzuki India hopes to achieve something similar in a not-too-distant future.

“Finally what is going to happen is that buyers will go for customisation of vehicles. It’s a long-term plan (for us). The thought process is changing. You really have to respond to what the customers need quickly. If somebody wants his or her vehicle to have specific features, then we would have to be in a position to deliver it,” R Dayal, executive director in charge of production engineering at Maruti, said.

Just the way automobile markets in developed countries operate.

It’s not that Maruti has not been doing customisation before. In a bid to reverse sagging sales of its multipurpose Versa, the company in 2007 customised it for those wanting to use it as a taxi such as by partitioning the driver compartment.

Customisation would become a standard practice than an exception in future, he said.

“What you get from the factory might be a standard vehicle. Logistic hubs are being set up and we are also thinking how to make these hubs as customisation centres for our vehicles. We have set up one in Bangalore, where we had taken 120 acres; we are now doing it in Nagpur. The third centre would be in Siliguri, West Bengal and another one in Panagarh, also in this state. Then we will go to somewhere in Gujarat,” Dayal said.

These logistics hubs would be stocking all the parts and accessories necessary for customisation, which need not be stocked by the dealers at all.

“Some customer may want something with the steering, while others may want different looking wheels. The dealers don’t have to stock the parts, particularly the slow-moving ones, which we will provide ourselves,” said Dayal.

“The company should be able to deliver within, say, 24 hours, or even 12 hours. Customers wouldn’t have to wait for the car. We can do the customisation wherever required. When we send our cars to our dealers, it takes 6-8 days. But we need to respond to customisation demand within 24 hours,” said Dayal.

He explained the concept as a win-win situation for everyone involved, the customer, the company and also the dealer. “Customers would be delighted to get fast response from us. The dealers can free up their money locked in spares and use it in more productive purposes while the company would become better equipped to serve its customers,” he said.