Maruti's Memoir

1971. As the Indian army was busy fighting Bangladesh Liberation War, in New Delhi, prime minister Indira Gandhi and her cabinet were busy approving production licenses to a new public sector company headed by Sanjay Gandhi, Prime Minister's son and the brain behind this mission. The stated goal of the company was to build an indigenous 'people's car'. However, 10 years passed but the company failed to show any tangible results for various reasons ranging from challenges linked to prototype development to the untimely death of Sanjay.

At last, in 1982, the Indian PSU finally found its soulmate from the 'land of the rising sun' - a partner who promised to bring the much-needed automobile technology. To reflect the arrangement, 'Maruti Motors Ltd.' changed its avatar to 'Maruti Udyog Ltd.' - a joint venture between the Indian government (74% stake) and Suzuki, Japan (16% stake). And, as they say, the rest is history.

First, Maruti 800 was born after the corporate fusion, and paved the way for an affordable 'common man's car'. The small car immediately hit the right note in the Indian customer psyche and went on to rule the Indian passenger market for the next 20 years by delivering 'value for money'.

Something personal. My favorite car from the Maruti stable was Maruti Omni - the 'kidnapping car'. It got this name courtesy of the countless Bollywood movies where the villain kidnapped the heroine and fled the scene in this van eventually leading to the high decibel dhisoom-dhisoom between the hero and the bad guys in the climax. Even today, while idle channel surfing, when I catch a glimpse of this vehicle it triggers memories of my school days during 1980s - a bygone era.

Coming back to the Maruti saga. The joint venture was such a success story that Suzuki, the Japanese partner continued to hike its stake in this venture. In 2007 Indian government divested its entire stake to the public and institutional investors. Today, Suzuki is the largest shareholder (56.3%) and Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan which has effectively made MSIL a Japanese company. 

In 2017, with the launch of Nexa, a new dealership format for premium cars, MSIL shook off its "entry-level vehicle manufacturer" tag, dropped the Maruti badge from all vehicles, and S (read Suzuki) logo started to enjoy exclusive visibility. However, MSIL has not dropped 'M' from the company name. In my opinion, it will continue to do so for two reasons: it is a publicly listed company in the NSE and the BSE and of course to leverage the Maruti name as it generates strong brand pull among the generations of Indians.

So, what is your verdict - MSIL is still an Indian brand or a Japanese brand?