INTRODUCTION

India is one oI the most important emerging car economies in the world today. Premier
Automobile Ltd. (PAL) earned the distinction oI manuIacturing the Iirst car in the country.
Hindustan Motors (HM), which started as a manuIacturer oI auto components graduated to
manuIacture cars in 1949. Thanks to the Licence #, which restricted Ioreign competitors to
enter the Indian car market, Indian roads were ruled by Ambassador Car Irom Hindustan Motors
and the Fiat Irom Premier Auto Ltd. Ior many oI the initial years.
The control imposed on car makers related to production capacity and distribution.
The GOT control even extended to Iixation oI prices Ior cars and dealer commissions. The three
decades oI the passenger car industry in India up to the early 1980s, proved to be the 'dark
ages' Ior the consumer, as his choice throughout this period was limited to two models
Ambassador and Padmini. It was only in 1981, aIter the entry oI Maruti Udyog, that the car
makers were given a Iree hand to Iix the prices oI cars, thus, eIIectively abolishing all controls
relating to the pricing oI the end product.
In the early 80's, a series oI liberal policy changes were announced marking another
turning point Ior the automobile industry. The very Iace oI the industry was changed Ior ever in
1983 with the entry oI public sector Maruti Udyog in a joint venture with the Suzuki
Corporation oI Japan.
Maruti Udyog Ltd introduced 'Maruti 800' in 1983 providing a complete Iace liIt to the
Indian car industry. The car was launched as a "Peoples car" with a price tag oI Rs 40,000.
This changed the industry's proIile dramatically. Maruti 800 was well accepted by middle
income Iamilies in the country. Many companies have entered the car manuIacturing sector,
to tap the middle and premium end oI car industry. The new entrants are Daewoo (Matiz),
Tata (Indica) and Hyundai (Santro) in upper end oI economy car market. GM, Ford,
Peugeot, Mitsubishi, Honda and Fiat has entered the mid-sized car segment and Mercedes-
Benz is in the premium end oI market.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
To analyze the:
Marketing Strategy oI MUL
To conduct a detailed SWOT Analysis
To know the position and segments in which the whole market is divided