The Crucial Thing Is To Focus On The Customer Experience: Maruti Suzuki’s Partho Banerjee
Maruti Suzuki India, as a brand which has soared to capture 42 per cent of the automobile market, has gone beyond annual sales of 20 lakh vehicles in FY24 which is the highest ever domestic sales as well as exports. The company has climbed the rungs to become the country’s top SUV manufacturer.
With an annual advertising and marketing budget of Rs 1,400 crore, Maruti Suzuki India stands as one of India’s top advertisers. And with Partho Banerjee taking the steer of the company in his hands as Senior Executive Officer - Sales and Marketing on 1 April, 2024, he spoke to e4m about his plans to focus on customer experience, the brand’s spends on digital advertising and more.
An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, Banerjee has been instrumental in propelling Maruti Suzuki's growth for more than three decades through innovation and strategic initiatives. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Nexa sales and service channel, overhauled dealer development, and spearheaded digital transformations to improve service experiences. Previously, he also served on the company's sales team.
Brand Projections
Discussing the brand’s performance in the previous month and his projections for the new fiscal year, Banerjee points out that in March, the brand outperformed its competitors, achieving a 15 per cent YoY growth compared to their 6.8 per cent. However, he also mentioned that March's growth may not accurately predict the financial performance of the coming year. Several factors contribute to this. Firstly, the base last year was lower, which will affect this year's figures. Secondly, a shortage of components such as semiconductors led to accumulated demand in the market. Considering this, he doesn’t see any reason for a very high growth in 2024-25. Forecasting a single-digit growth for this financial year, he understands that it will be a muted growth this year.
When questioned about the semiconductor issue, he mentioned that the crisis is over now and that the company has overcome the same. As per Banerjee, supply will not be a constraint this year.
The CX Focus
As per numbers, Tata Motors has recently overtaken Maruti to become India's most valuable auto company, ending Maruti's seven-year reign. Outlining Maruti Suzuki’s top priorities and challenges, Banerjee said that the brand respects its competitors. “I have a huge respect for Tata Motors and I think they are doing a good job. However, I firmly believe India is a large market and there is space for all players to operate. And we have been the market leader for the last four decades.”
For Maruti, he revealed, “The crucial thing is to focus on the customer experience. Be relevant to the customers in terms of products and services, and understand their needs.
So, my priority is to work on the customer experience part or CX. If you're able to connect with the customer, you can retain them in your fold. The rest will follow. And by the way, the automobile business is a long-term business. We should not see it from a short-term perspective. We have a good connection with our customers and I feel we need to further strengthen it.”
Digital Is Crucial
Without divulging the brand’s marketing budget, Banerjee brought out that they will be relevant to the brand based on the brand philosophy and the target customer. “The relevant media drivers will be used to reach the customer.”
About the significance of digital, he emphasised, “Today, digital is not something separate as a part of the media plan, but very much a part of the overall media plan. Last year, we almost spent close to 35 – 37 per cent” of our total marketing budget on digital advertising. So it plays a crucial role. And I think it's more of an efficiency part of it by which we can reach the right customer and convey the appropriate message. So digital will play a major role even in this financial year.”
IPL & Elections
About leveraging big media properties like the ongoing Indian Premier League and General Elections, Banerjee stated, “Election plays a very good role in terms of reaching the rural markets. Almost 43 per cent of our sales come from there. So, the elections will be a great conduit for us to reach the customers. We are already present in the IPL, and we use this big property to reach the customer, depending on the type of campaigns we will do.”
When asked about the funds set aside by the brand for campaigns during the elections, he added, without giving specific numbers, that their media planning team is working on it and they would leverage it appropriately.
Taking The EV Route
Underlining the company’s expansion plans and its intentions of stepping into the EV cars market, Banerjee specified, “First of all, we are not supposed to share any forecasts and other things being a listed company. But yes, long term I can surely share. The auto industry is supposed to reach a volume of 6 million cars. And we, being the market leader, are aiming for 50 per cent market share. So we will have a pie of three million, but another three million will be there for all other of our players as well.
Within these three million, our take is that there will be not only EVs but also other powertrains, such as hybrids at 25 per cent playing a major role. By 2030, about 15 – 17 per cent of the contribution will come from EVs. We will be launching six models by 2030.”
