The Case of Maruti—Suzuki India

In the 1960s and 1970s the Suzuki Motor Company (SMC) starts with the internationalization of motorbike production. However, it isn’t until the 1980s that the company develops a strong internationalization of automobile production. The company’s first automobile assembly site opens in 1976 in Indonesia. In 1981, SMC signs its first business tie-ups with the General Motors Corporation (GM). In 1982, SMC starts an assembly operation in Pakistan and in the same year a JV agreement is signed with Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) for the set-up of an integrated production site in India. SMC internationalization efforts in the 1980s also include a JV with Santana Motors in Spain (1985), an agreement with General Motors Corporation of Canada to establish a production JV – better know as CAMI (1986) – and the establishment of assembly sites in New Zealand (1984), Columbia (1987) and Egypt (1989). In the 1990s this pattern of internationalization continues. In Asia SMC establishes wholly owned operations, ties ups and JVs for the production of passenger cars in Korea, China, Vietnam and Myanmar. In Europe, SMC builds an integrated production plant in Hungary (Suzuki, 2004). In addition, SMC enters into a number of collaborations and strategic alliances, the most important of which with General Motors in 1998. The strong international expansion in the 1980s and 1990s is followed by a phase of consolidation and strategic reorientation in the 2000s. Maruti–Suzuki India (MSI), for example, is no longer mandated to mainly serve the domestic market, but receives the mandate to produce for the European market (The Financial Express, 2002). In the 2000s, SMC is in the process of reorganizing its international division of labour. SMC envisions MSI to develop into a global R&D and production hub for small cars.