This quarter, the margins were a bit lower but what is the outlook for FY25? Do you think the growth rate that we had seen in FY24 could be maintained in FY25?
RC Bhargava: All I can say is we will do our best to get to the best performance during the year. But there are so many factors which affect the final results at the end of the day and lots of those factors are not in the control of any manufacturer or anybody.
So, being certain or trying to predict the result is really not in the control of a company and that is the reason why Maruti has avoided trying to give any kind of guidance on margins or profitability or any such thing. All I can say is that I am optimistic. The conditions in India are going to be favourable. The market for the cars is going to be positive and going forward, we should expect reasonably good performance of the industry.
What about your EV plans? We understand there has been a bit of a delay there.
RC Bhargava: The production is still expected to start within this financial year. But mass production, volume production will only start by around April. Also, in the initial production, even what happens within this financial year, the plan is that the first lot of cars will actually get exported to Europe. So, the domestic market will have to wait for the subsequent batches of production to get cars in the market here.
But what about the SUV market because that has clearly been the growth driver for the entire sector last year. What kind of launches have you planned up for the coming year and what would it do to your market share?
RC Bhargava: No comments. We have to wait for any kind of announcement for a model change. No, we do not comment on earlier notices on models and new models and things.
What about hatchbacks? How much time do you think that segment will take to rebound?
RC Bhargava: So far, the market seems to be reviving in the two-wheeler segment. Compared to where the two-wheeler segment was two years ago, they have moved forward substantially. The turn of the small car market will come after the movement on two-wheelers is complete and the volume of two-wheelers comes back to nearer what it was before the BS-VI came into force, before prices went up, and allowing for a certain natural increase in demand after that.
So, my guess is two years is the minimum time we have to wait before small cars can expect that customers will be back in the market for them.
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