It has emerged that Japanese automaker Suzuki plans to use the Maruti brand for international markets. The Maruti vehicles would battle it out against Nissan’s Datsun cars.
It may be noted that Suzuki is the majority share holder in MSIL and Maruti contributes to over 40% of Suzuki’s global sales. Maruti already exports cars like the 800, the Alto (AStar) and the Ertiga MPV to various markets. These cars are sold under the Suzuki brand name.
However, this looks all set to change with Suzuki planning to introduce Maruti as its small car brand in many of the African markets where there is a huge demand for entry level small cars.