Why was Suzuki chosen as Marutis partner?
In the early eighties, the government had already zeroed in on Volkswagen to partner with Maruti in India and VW Golf was the chosen small car for India. But we knew Golf was pricey for the Indian market. They even came close to picking an 1800cc car of Renault. These were decisions taken without conducting market research. We asked for more time and went first to Europe and then to Japan scouting for partners. In Japan we had talks with Nissan, Mitsubishi, Daihatsu and lastly with Suzuki. None of these companies was willing to bring 40 per cent equity into India. For them it was a risky business. Only Suzuki was willing to bring in 26 per cent equity with an option to raise it to 40 per cent. And Suzuki’s 550 cc Fronte was the winner. Which became the precursor to the Maruti 800. How did you manufacture the early Maruti models? Before we could manufacture cars we had to learn lessons in shop floor cleanliness. We were ready to assemble cars in October 1983. But the Suzuki engineers sa
