A legend of the Indian automobile industry closes his innings at Maruti Suzuki
Mayank Pareek, the sales chief of India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has put in his papers after serving the company for more than two decades. Pareek’s departure is the second top-level exit at Maruti this year after Sudam Maitra, who was the in-charge of supply chain.
His exit also comes barely a fortnight before the upcoming launch of Maruti’s executive sedan, the Ciaz, on October 1.He is touted to be replaced as the head of marketing and sales by Shashank Srivastava, who is currently the executive officer for exports.
Pareek’s Innings at Maruti Suzuki
Known among the automobile fraternity as the face of Maruti Suzuki, Pareek has served the carmaker for more than two decades at a time when its market share peaked to its highest for the past five years. According to people in the knowledge of he is likely to remain part of the automotive industry and may reveal his plans shortly. The reasons for the Pareek's departure is not clear, but unconfirmed talks surfaced shortly after, that he might be headed to rival carmaker Tata Motors. Pareek was instrumental in maintaining Maruti’s leadership position in the fiercely competitive domestic passenger vehicle segment. In the five months to August this year, Maruti’s sales have grown nearly 30%, more than double the pace of the industry, which grew by 12.5%.
However, a senior company official confirmed the news of his resignation. Another official, said Pareek is leaving for "better prospects." Pareek is credited with spearheading the carmaker's drive into the rural markets and the success of many Maruti Suzuki products. Rumours of Pareek's resignation did the rounds even during the Auto Expo, held in February, this year. It was vehemently denied by the company then. Maruti Suzuki, in recent months has witnessed a senior management rejig with the Japanese parent Suzuki Motors Corporation tightening its hold on several critical functions, including human resources activities. The company's top management rejig came after a year-long labour trouble at its Manesar plants during the year 2011-12. Is It a Corporate Restructuring Exercise Following the Labor Strikes?
The rejig in April, this year saw three senior chief operating officers (COOs) being asked to share responsibilities with Japanese expatriates from Suzuki. The rejig came soon after a labour strike that saw an outbreak of violence on July 18, 2012, causing injuries to 96 executives and the death of one manager.
company. During the same time, Mayank Pareek who was then the COO of marketing & sales was promoted and re-designated as senior executive officer for the same departments. With the changes, Maruti Suzuki had scrapped COO's designation and started nomenclature of senior executive officer or executive officer and vice presidents. Indian executives face a glass ceiling at Suzuki-controlled Maruti. The two chief executives since the government exited the company have been Japanese. This is cited as one reason why Pareek may have moved on.
