History of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

YEAR EVENTS 2000 - The Comp. was awarded the 'Highest Exporter Award' in New Delhi.

- ICRA has assigned `LAAA' rating to the Rs. 200-crore long-term non-convertible debenture programme & `A1+' rating to the Rs. 100-crore commercial paper programe of company.

- The Comp. has launched a new Web site for its recently introduced passenger car, the Wagon-R - www.marutiwagonr.com.

- The Comp. has decided to introduce a new variant of Zen specially designed for handicapped by end of year.

- The Comp. will issue bonds for Rs 200 crore at ICICI Securities & Finance Ltd.

- The Comp. has proposed to set up a dealership on the Internet for new models.

- Maruti Udyog Ltd & Ashok Leyland Ltd [ALLs] have been selected for IRTE National Award, in recognition of their efforts towards promoting the cause of road safety, traffic managemen & environment protection.

- Maruti Udyog limited has taken the Zen Acc. away from Lintas Lowe and Partners and granted it to Rediffusion DY&R.

- The Comp. is launching Baleno station wagon version - Baleno Altura on September 1.

- Maruti Udyog is launching the Wagon R with electric power steering in two variants.

- Maruti Udyog limited has discontinued two of its models - Maruti 1000 & Gypsy 1000 - as part of efforts to 'rationalise' product range.

- Sumitomo of Japan is picking up a 47.5 per cent stake in a joint venture with Maruti Udyog Ltd for providing after sales care & service for Maurti vehicles.

- Maruti Udyog limited suspended vehicle production for two days on September 19 & 20 due to huge inventories of 12,000-odd units at the factory. The Comp. resumed the production on September 21.

- Maruti Udyog limited has introduced its long-awaited small car -- the Suzuki Alto in two versions, the 796cc Alto LX & the 1,061cc Alto VX 1.1.

- Production at the manufacturing facilities of Maruti Udyog limited came to a grinding halt on 13th of October when the employees of Comp. refused to sign a `Good Conduct Undertaking'.

- Maruti Cars have overtaken hitherto popular Japanese brands to become the number one favourite among Sri Lankans.

- The Comp. has launched a programme in alliance with GE Capital to provide information on the company vehicles & services.

- The Strike at the Gurgaon plant for over three months, relented & signed an agreemeent with the management.

2001 - Rights issue of equity in Maruti Udyog Ltd, which would lead to an eventual sell-off of the Government equity in the passenger car joint venture.

- Maruti Udyog is launching its first factory-fitted CNG vehicle in a bid to promote use of eco-friendly vehicles in the domestic market.

- Maruti Udyog sold 37,490 units in March 2001, 28 per cent more than in February, when it sold 29,569 passenger cars.

- Maruti Udyog limited has awarded the Maruti Genuine Paints status to ICI Ltd ICI Autocolor 2K.

- MARUTI Udyog will invest Rs 550 crore in the current fiscal besides targeting an over 24 per cent rise in turnover at Rs 11,500 crore

- Government secures the involvement of FIs in its attempt to disinvest in Maruti Udyog Ltd.

- India largest carmaker Maruti Udyog on on August 23rd launched a variant of its premium small car model 'Alto'. The new model 'Alto vxi' would be equipped with Maruti true response electronic power steering which is safe & provides better steering control at high speed, a Comp. official said.

- Maruti Udyog Ltd on September 24 notified its proposed voluntary retirement scheme [VRSs] expected to trim its 5,700 strong workforce by around 20 per cent. Close to 1,000 employees shopfloor workmen & office staff can avail the month-long VRS aimed at boosting profitability.

-Maruti Udyog Ltd first voluntary retirement scheme [VRSs], which closed on October23, has found about 1,000 takers.

2002

-The government on May 14, 2002 set into motion big-ticket disinvestment in 2002-03 by announcing a two-stage process to exit from Maruti Udyog Ltd, a joint venture with Suzuki Motor Company.

-Announcing the decision, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie said a Rs 400 crore rights issue to be completely picked up by Suzuki at Rs 3,280 per share will be accompanied by Japanese auto major paying a control premium of Rs 1,000 crore for gaining a majority stake.

-Launches Maruti Finance to offer value-added services such as extended warranty, additional service, finance for car insurance & genuine Maruti accessories

-Steps into auto accessories business

-Hikes prices of its cars with effect from 28th Jan 2002

-Launches Versa, the multi purpose vehicle, in deluxe version

-Maruti Udyog in a tie up with Gas Authority of India enters into business of corporate lease & finance management under the brand name of N2N

-Ventures into pre owned cars business branded True value

-Introduces upgraded versions of Wagon-R

-Special edition of Maruti 800 car launched under the name Maruti 800 Special

-Stops production in one of its manufacturing plants & shifts most of its production to the other two for next financial year

-Govt & Suzuki finalise pricing over Maruti Rights Issue

-Offers optional extended warranty cover for four years for all its vehicles purchased after April 1, 2002

-ICRA gives highest safety ratings to Maruti issue

-Extends its Maruti Finance service to customers in Maharashtra & Goa

-Bags 16,000 Alto export order from Europe

-Unveils Alto variant [Alto LXis] with electronic power steering

-Suzuki renominates Jagdish Khattar as MD

-Steps into lease & fleet management by signing up with leading corporates such as DuPont, Gas Authority of India [Gails], Reckitt and Benckiser & Sona Koyo which will help client companies in acquiring & maintaining their fleet

-Suzuki takes over control in Maruti Udyog by hiking its stake in the Comp. from 50% to 54.2%, Maruti Udyog becomes the subsidiary of Suzuki

-Suzuki restructures the company Board of Directors, appoints Shinzo Nakanishi as the new chairman & non-retiring part-time director. Jagadish Khattar continues to be MD

-Suzuki Motor Corporation [SMCs] subscribes the rights issue of Maruti Udyog for Rs 399 crore

-Suzuki takes control of Maruti Udyog

-MUL, Daewoo, HM tie-up with Rohan Auto for LPG Kits

-Unveils WagonR Pride, special limited edition version of its premium small car WagonR

-Unveils Esteem Diesel version

-Maruti market share hits an all-time low of 42 per cent in July

-Maruti ranked as the leading player in dealer service

2003

-Unveils ' Change Your Life' campaign to attract customers

-Increases prices owing to higher input costs

-Ties up with Reliance Industries Ltd [RILs] & its group companies for its business of lease & fleet management

-Smart memory card rolled out by its service centre, Sharath Motors, can store information on the car history, insurance, maintenance & all documents. The `Zoom' card comes with a personal accident cover for Rs 1 lakh

-Enters into an agreement with State Bank of India [SBIs] under which, each of 12,000 branches of India largest commercial bank is expected to sell one car per month

-Launches its new AC version E2 M800 car

-Kicks off the scheme of rewarding existing Maruti vehicle owners with a `loyalty bonus' ranging from Rs 8,000 to Rs 25,000 on exchange of their cars for a new Zen, WagonR, Alto, Esteem or Baleno

-Launches a new limited edition version of its small car, Alto. Named `Alto Celebration'

-Launches its new Sports Utility Vehicle [SUVs] 'Grand Vitara XL-7', the 2700 cc vehicle, priced at Rs 15.96 lakh for standard version & Rs 16.77 lakh for limited edition variant

-Forges a tie-up with State Bank of India [SBIs] for offering co-branded financing option for buyers of Maruti vehicles [SBI-Maruti Finances]

-Rolls out its four millionth vehicle

-FIPB bans Overseas Corporate Bodies [OCBs] from Maruti IPO

-Central government picks up 0.23 per cent equity owned by employees' trust in Maruti Udyog limited [MULs]

-Suzuki grants 10% discount on components to MUL

-Alto overtakes Zen, WagonR in growth during 2002-03

-Suzuki gives govt undertaking to hold min 26-pc in MUL post IPO

-MUL & Sumitomo Corp. of Japan increase their equity stakes to 49 per cent each in JJ Impex, a joint venture between the two, from around 47 per cent each

-Increases its car market share from 50% to about 55% in last fiscal

-Fixes Rs 115 as floor price for IPO

-Resumes full-scale production at Gurgaon plant

-Comes out with public issue, oversubscribed 7.82 times

-Achieves 30-pc market share of Jammu used-car market

-Govt fixes Maruti IPO at Rs 125 per share

-Kumar Mangalam Birla inducted on Maruti board as Independent Director

-Gets listed at 25.6% premium at Rs 157, on the BSE

-Increases the cost of its family cars by around Rs 350-1,926

-Ties up with State Bank of Mysore [SBMs] to offer car finance

-Appoints Mr. Manvinder Singh Banga, Chairman, Hindustan Lever Ltd., as the fourth independent director on the Board of Company

-State Bank of Travancore [SBTs] & Maruti Udyog Ltd [MULs] enter in to an agreement to provide low interest loan to the persons who intend to by range of Maruti cars

-Union Bank of India forges alliance with Maruti Udyog limited for providing loans to Maruti customers at competitive rates

-Clocks 3 lakh units of exports

-Company included in Morgan Stanley Capital International [MSCIs] India Index

-Slashes Alto model price by Rs 23,167 [ex showroom, Delhis]

-Forays into an alliance with State Bank of Saurashtra [SBSs] to provide car finance

-Maruti Udyog Board approves VRS

-Maruti TrueValue, the company used car outlets, started dealing with pre-owned cars of all manufacturers

-The Comp. opened Aluminium foundry at Manesar, Harayana

-Unveils revamped Zen car

-Launches new version of Grand Vitara

-Maruti slashes workforce by 27% via VRS

2004

-Rises volume car prices by Rs 2000

-MUL unveils new after-sales facility in Chennai

-Unveils Versa Variant At Rs 3.27 Lakh

-Introduces a new cut-price version of its Alto compact car on April 8th priced at Rs 2,30,000 to help buyers upgrade from the cheaper Maruti 800.

- Maruti Udyog reduces the down payment figure to Rs 21,000, for purchasing India cheapest car Maruti 800 & extends the loan repayment period from seven to eight years which will bring down the equated monthly installment [EMIs] to Rs 2,499 from Rs 2,599

-Ties up with MRF to boost motorsports in India

-Maruti unveils 'Bike to Car' scheme in Ahmedabad

-ARBL ties up with MUL for battery supply

-Maruti join hands with Indiatimes to buy & sell used cars

-Maruti Udyog Ltd [MULs] ties with State Bank of India for car financing.

2005

- Announces a price hike of Rs 2,000-3,000 across models all models except Maruti-800 on January 5, 2005.

- Maruti Udyog Ltd rolls out a new-look Maruti 800 with spruced up interiors & upgrades that enable it to meet superior emission norms.

-MUL sets up second driving school at Kollam

-MUL to sell cars form JV with Suzuki

-Maruti Udyog launches Swift in Delhi on May 25, 2005.

-Maruti Udyog introduces new Alto

-Maruti tops in IQS 2005 awards

-Maruti unveils scheme for Kerala Govt employees

2006

-Indian car market leader Maruti Udyog on Feb 28, announced a price cut ranging between Rs 13,000-22,000 across five models, including M800 & Alto, following the cut in excise duty on small cars

-MUL unveils new WagonR in Punjab.

-Maruti Udyog Ltd has announced that the Comp. will unveil its stylish new Zen Estilo at a gala fashion show on New Delhi, tonight.

2007

-Maruti Udyog Limited has informed that Mr. Tsuneo Kobayashi, a non-executive director, has been appointed as Whole-time Director designated as Senior Joint Managing Director. The Board of Directors in their meeting held on 22nd January, 2007 has approved the above.

-UTI Bank & Maruti have joined hands for giving car finance.

-Maruti Udyog Ltd on May 07, 2007 the Comp. has launched SX4 sedan, a bold, muscular & feature-packed car, powered by global M-series engine & built on a brand new platform.

-Maruti Udyog Ltd has informed that Mr. Shinichi Takeuchi, Joint Managing Director was serving the Company Board in the capacity of nominee director of Suzuki Motor Corporation [SMCs], Japan.

- Comp. name has been changed from Maruti Udyog Ltd to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

2008

- Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has inducted Mr. Kenichi Ayukawa as Additional Director of Comp. with effect from July 21, 2008.