[Ashdel]

Voted Yes, I personally have been using Maruti cars since past 20 years and currently drive Brezza. I strongly feel Maruti is far behind in terms of transmission, quality and refined engine options.

Hyundai and Kia have fantastic engine and transmission options, plus their overall plastic and build quality is solid.

whenever i go for a new car in future, Maruti will be my last option unless they move up with competition.

[srikanthmadhava]

Can the Korean duo sell more volume than Maruti Suzuki in India?
NO

Can the Korean duo make more profits than Maruti Suzuki in India?
YES

Can the Korean duo 'upset' Maruti Suzuki in India?
YES

[puneetakhouri]

Voted NO.
I would personally like feature loaded SAFE cars to sell more than tin cans (I own a tin can), but at some point of time Maruti will wake up from its slumber. And when it does, people headed towards a Korean car showroom would definitely have a stop at the Maruti dealer to check the car out.
But what I feel is that when Maruti wakes up, it will hit the makers like Tata and Mahindra more than Hyundai/Kia.

[sumeethaldankar]

Suzuki has Toyota on it's side (or it could be the other way round too). I was going through Suzuki's global website. They do not have any product as of now that can challenge the Seltos/Creta types.

The Vitara Brezza seems old. Once Suzuki probably with help from Toyota address it's deficiencies namely hybrid power train and better products something which might take a year or two, Kia/Hyundai will continue to enjoy the success of their mini SUV's and CUV's. But once Maruti comes out with something similar these two will have to watch out.

Maruti meanwhile will focus on other products like the Jimny, electric Wagon R etc. For now the Brezza/S-Cross have very little going for them against the more upmarket Seltos/Creta/Sonet, though Brezza sales are quite good.

[indrasis_gun]

Never. Unless Hyundai and Kia accept, admit and address the niggles which are coming in their cars nowadays. But I think and wish one day Tata will overtake all others and become the Number 1 in Indian car market. I personally have selected that my next car will be a Tata.

P. S. My daily drive is a Maruti.

[KPR]

1. What Kia/Hyundai has given customers: Features
2. What MS has given customers : Mileage
3. What Tata/Mahindra has given customers: Safety rating

Knowledge on the above came/comes by,

1. you tube videos. (fastest learning mode)
2. words of mouth. (bit slow mode)
3. knowledge on crash tests. (who will go through pages of stars and numbers that too in small fonts )

If Kia / Hyundai is winning here in India they should thank Ambani Bhai for creating mobile/network addiction platform.

[PioneerNB]

Cannot vote for now. But here are my thoughts below:
In terms of profits the duo can outperform Suzuki in a few years itself. We need to keep in mind the niche products the duo offers and the higher servicing fees associated with the vehicles
Looking at costing of the new i20 I seriously feel underpaid and think I need a better paying job..
Maruti will move in to rural patches and will end by selling numbers but their profit margins will remain a bit lower due to increased operational costs

[ph03n!x]

Maruti's strengths are their dealer/ service center spread, customer service, and plethora of models within 10 lakhs.

Unless Hyundai + Kia is able to match them in these 3 aspects, they'll not sell as much as Maruti. Neither will they make as much revenue, and absolute value of profit (not %).

But I don't know why Hyundai+Kia would even want to try to overtake Maruti when their profit % is higher than Maruti in the segments they are present. The sub 10-lakh segment has pretty thin margins...

[eyeman]

I don't think any manufacturer can dethrone Maruti for the next two decades. That is because of the sheer brand presence they have stamped into the heads of the Indian population as a whole. For the masses, CAR means Maruti. It will take a long time to erase that image.

[nettooran]

I believe the biggest advantage Maruti has is it's wide dealership network and availability of spare parts easily over the counter, both which makes it advantageous in the used car and rural market which increases its resale value and thus scores a brownie point with those who do not dig deep into technical or safety aspects of a car.

In Cities, I see more cars from Tata and Hyundai (and Kia recently) , with for regn stickers than a Maruti , I don't know if we have an urban rural graph for the same, but I am sure if we have one, we would not see maruthi having such a big margin in sales if we consider cities alone.

This extensive network was built up by maruti over a long period of time. Hyundai may take atleast a decade more to reach that level. That said, I would definitely love to see maruti get a hit on its sales which would get them thinking and stop taking the indian customer for granted. How can you justify plonking in a 2 decade old auto transmission in an scross. Pure arrogance which needs some drastic change in sales chart to change.

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by andafunda

It is quite interesting to read claims about the masses wanting a Hyundai product over a Maruti Suzuki. Would love to understand and analyze the research that went behind these claims.

I am all for more competition, however I wish it came from carmakers who believe in the concept of safety and handling, before silly styling and electronics. I'd rather VW, Honda and Toyota get their game up.

The below is a summary of the experiences I've heard from my friends and on this forum about the Korean siblings:

1. Dealerships trying to "upsell" a model or "cross sell" another color playing on the customer's excitement for a new car. You book a VFM trim and are given a 4-8 week timeline. In the second week, you get a call that a car in a particular colour and trim (usually higher models) has suddenly been made available and you can get it within a week. If you check the VIN, it is a 2-3 month old car, most likely already at the dealerships stockyard. Happened with a couple of people I know and has been reported on this forum as well. Yes, Tata dealers are terrible but have never heard such incidents about them.

2. Prioritizing electronics and silly features over build quality. All the "SUVs" that Hyundai-Kia sell in the 10-20L bracket have, in my humble opinion, pretty poor build quality. Brake failures. No clear information of NCAP ratings for Indian models. The Korean dealerships in Mumbai couldn't tell me the NCAP rating of the Creta or Seltos, while this is one (of the very few) thing that the Tata dealerships knew of. Shows what they prioritize.

3. Control of media and influencers. Not a peep in the media about serious issues such as brake failures. One bad panel gap on a Tata car and the entire influencer ecosystem loses its collective minds.

4. No reaction to serious and critical issues. They don't even acknowledge the issue. With Tata, Mahindra and Maruti, I can just write to SEBI. With Toyota, Honda and VW, I can write to their boards. Best of luck doing this with the Koreans.

5. They prioritize the dealership over you. Ever highlighted an issue to Hyundai? In most cases, it is referred back to the dealership. Try the same with Maruti or Tata and see the difference. Even Skoda/VW act with enough pressure.

I'm all for more competition in the Indian market. But, I'd like better competition. So, I'll continue to root for Tata, VW/Skoda, Honda and Toyota to do better.

India needs better and safer cars, not ventilated seats and air purifiers.

Voted for Hyundai-Kia because as a business entity they have the potential to disrupt the market with their products and clever marketing by pricing a barebones variant for 6.9 L with an average engine and the vary same product price is doubled if one goes for all the features in it. This way, they attract footfalls in the shower on and these visitors are wowed by the quality of interior materials and car design which converts them into buyers and the perception of top variant plays an important factor and that's how the profits are made. That's the strategy these Koreans use which has lead to increase in prices of cars from B segment to D segment cars

Koreans are highly competitive and they go all guns blazing. However this quote summarizes the sad reality of this company.

Couldn't find a reason to skip a line from this quote but the observations are spot on and it's sad that the same junta are not aware of these facts before signing that dotted line

[PrasannaDhana]

Going against the tide here.

Maruti makes budget cars catering to the lower middle class and middle class sections of the society. A lot of people from such families now avoid maruti to make themselves look richer (you would be surprised if you know how much of a role "societal opinion" plays in a car purchase). Majority of people don't know / don't care about the technical stuff.

Maruti will become the Hero motors of 4 wheelers if they keep sleeping. Tata woke up. They made really pathetic cars, but they changed their ways, improved and now they sell 7000 units of their premium hatchback and 7000 units of their C-SUV and 6000 units of their compact hatchback in a month! If tata can turn things around, Maruti definitely can.

But will they intend to do it is a big question. As a society , a majority of the populace is lower middle class and they definitely want to be safe buying a reliable cheap fuel efficient maruti that their friend/relative/neighbour has. Maruti might just stay lazy and keep selling their cars to them, while their brand value and market share keep going down day by day.

[Kosfactor]

As long as our regulations make it possible to make cars under 10L, Maruti is here to stay.

Kia and Hyundai by their own admission are not really looking at Maruti, they are after every one else including Toyota. M&M's run is over for now , Tata's altroz is in their crosshairs now , next is a 7 seater to wipe out harrier, hector.

It's going to be Maruti (under 10L) , Kia-Hyundai and then all others have to fight over whatever is left.

[manjunathkl]

Yes and No.

Complicated answer, bear with me.

Maruti is very strong in sub-6lac car market. Nobody can touch them there. Alto-Eeco-WagonR-Celerio-Swift-DZire-Ertiga - in their respective segments will rule the market. Hyundai has many times tried new products to uncrown the king in these segments, but has not succeeded.

6lac+ cars segments, the story is totally different. Nexa cars is where they will slowly give away their lead to Hyundai-Kia-Tata. 6lac+ cars of Maruti are hopelessly outdated. Also, nothing in the pipeline to change it. Maruti has no diesels, turbo-charged, electrics or hybrids either. Their auto transmissions are ancient. As the upper-middle class starts to demand sophisticated cars, Maruti will not have a satisfactory answer. Suzuki global hasn't been doing great R&D either.

Coming to total volume - in the last year and a half - the highest sales is being recorded in B2 and C2 segments. If this trend continues, soon Maruti will start taking a hit on Market share. Just compare Altroz, new i20 to Baleno/Glanza - no comparison.

Plus EVs don't nearly need as many service centers as ICE vehicles. So, Maruti's biggest USP will get eroded slowly as EVs pick up sales.

[GeeTee TSI]

I think it is about time the Indian passenger car market moved to a mature phase. One of the signs of that would be a non monopolistic market and also one where the cheapest car is not necessarily the highest selling model.

Once such a time comes, then Koreans will be well placed to displace the current leader