Apr 05 2024, 11:33
Maruti's mega reshuffle has more to it than meets the eye:
Will the management rejig announced recently help Maruti reach 4 million car production annually by 2030-317 Or was it a necessity to keep up with the changing times?
Maruti Suzuki, India's No. 1 carmaker, seems to have realised the importance of changing-with times. Perhaps, it was long due, a good 10 years. For, the recent announcement by Maruti to make a sweeping top management reshuffle is probably the biggest after the rejig that had taken place in the organisation in May 2014.
And in the last 10 years, the auto industry has moved in a new direction. Electric vehicles (EVs) have started rolling in, cars are increasingly becoming software on wheels, and competition is getting fierce.
Maruti says the organisational changes announced on March 27 are part of a larger restructuring exercise, as the company prepares for the next decade under its Maruti Suzuki 3.0 strategy of reaching an annual 4 million production capacity by 2030-31.
Another important decision by Maruti in the recent rejig was to appoint Tarun Aggarwal as head of engineering.
Ammar Master, director (South Asia), automotive, GlobalData, saysMaruti Suzuki is on the verge of a significant expansion in India, with a strategic focus on the electric vehicle market with an ambitious goal to reclaim a 50% market share by the end of the decade.
Raina's LinkedIn profile highlights his experience as executive vice-president-engineering till February 2024 with a focus on product planning, design, cost and programme management, product development, target costing, etc.
Puneet Gupta, director-automotive at S&P Global Mobility, says the success in product planning will drive the company's growth forward. So, the team working on it will need to articulate the market requirements better. A stronger team will, therefore, be required, as Maruti Suzuki expands globally and looks beyond India. "We may see them (product planning team) understanding the different regulations, different brand strategies, different fuel mix strategies or different policies in international markets as well as the prevailing geopolitical situation as it plays an important role going forward," he explains.
According to Gupta, Maruti Suzuki is trying to rebuild the entire organisational structure, with the focus on strong research and development, product planning and technology, and that is why Raina has been roped in and Tarun Aggarwal replaced CV Raman.
source: et
Apr 05 2024, 11:35