‘MERA SAPNA, MERI MARUTI’ WITH MARUTI MAN

Manoj Jagyasi, Chief Business Officer of Bharat24-Vision of New India interacts with Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer of Maruti Suzuki India Limited about the future of small cars, expected entry of Maruti in EV space, news channels stand in the Maruti Suzuki’s Marketing Strategy, controversy around safety of Maruti cars and lot of more. Excerpts...

How did the journey or a path to become a leader started in your life?

Shashank Srivastava: My life journey has been very interesting and I have learned everything from the people around me like my colleagues and friends. I believe that when you start a new phase in your life, like after completing college or education, that period is all about learning. I believe that a child who learns from the people around and tries to perform it as well becomes a good leader.

Do you think switching jobs in today’s world is important or a person should stick to one job only like you are doing it passionately since last 34 years?

I believe that yes, it is not normal in today’s time to be in 1 job for 34 years, however I am still doing it because I have been treated well by the organisation and when I joined the company Maruti Suzuki was a well-established name and I was also very passionate about cars since my childhood days. From long waiting list to liberalisation which has changed the car industry to what is today now and has seen lot of ups and down alongside my career also have grown with Maruti Suzuki. My passion towards cars, enthusiasm to learn new things got me still connected with organisation and consumers also.

How did you bring back the first ever Maruti Suzuki 800 car from Sardar Harpal Singh ji?

This is one of the most interesting stories related to Maruti Suzuki. Yes, the Maruti 800 car is one of the most iconic cars of India. Sardar Harpal Singh was the first customer and got his car from Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi & the iconic number was DIA6479. Harpal Singh was very fond of his car and the company tried so many times to get the car back from him but they were unable to do so. Then one day Harpal Singh agreed to give the car and the organisation gave him the offer. The organisation brought back the car to the office and worked on it to put it on display in the office.

What are the differences between features and prices of Fronx and Jimny?

Both the cars are 4 metres in length and this size SUV is one of the biggest segments in the passenger vehicle industry. Well, in this segment two more segments emerged from which one is lifestyle in which people who are in urban areas, who want to experience off-roading or just want to portray their image will love Jimny. The other segment are those people who are drill breakers. These people are tech-savvy, young and want to experience something new. For these consumers, Fronx is the best suitable option.

Well, pricing for both the cars will be very competitive. If we talk logically then the pricing of the Fronx will be between Baleno and Brezza.

Where does a news channel stand in the Maruti Suzuki’s Marketing Strategy?

Total budget related to this is around Rs 1,100-1,200 crore. If we distribute according to media like digital, TV and print then digital is 30%, TV is 34%, print is 24% and the rest is there like radio, etc. In TV, the target group is in 3 genre which are very effective and those are news, sports and general entertainment.

How do you look at the controversy around the broadcasted opting out of the BARC?

Regarding the controversy of rating and broadcasters going out of race, we have found a solution that other than all these, they are doing some of their own research for the ground check so that we can find out that why the difference is so big between ratings and the response from SPENDS. The broadcasters shouldn’t have walked out of ratings system, instead better is to be there in the system to find out the possible solution. There will no currency to judge the channel if they get out of the rating system.