Good News for Maruti Owners: Maruti Launches Loyalty cum Rewards Programme

New Delhi, Delhi, India , 2006-04-20

Car market leader Maruti Udyog Limited rolled out a first of its kind ‘Loyalty cum Rewards Programme’ for its existing and new customers, here Wednesday.

Maruti car owners can easily earn as many as 20,000 Autopoints in four years. One Autopoint is valued at One Rupee. This Rs 20,000 can be used for additional discount by the customer while purchasing the next Maruti Suzuki car.

Alternatively, the accumulated points can be instantly redeemed by customers when they get their car serviced at Maruti Suzuki workshops or while purchasing a Maruti Genuine Accessory worth equivalent amount.

The program is quite unique in terms of the focus on Maruti Suzuki car customers, and the technology deployed to offer flexibility to customers. The loyalty cum rewards programme will be operated through a Maruti Suzuki Autocard which will be offered to Maruti Suzuki car owners who choose to enrol in the programme. A combination of chip based card technology, state-of-the-art Point of Sale Swipe Terminal and IT hardware has been used to make the program user-friendly. The programme has been initially launched in 36 cities.

Maruti has launched the Loyalty cum Rewards programme in conjunction with Citibank, part of Citigroup, the world’s largest and most diversified provider of Financial Services and Indian Oil Corporation, the largest commercial enterprise in the country and a leader in the petroleum retailing business in India.

The programme rewards Maruti Suzuki car owners for all their spends at Maruti outlets, IndianOil fuel outlets and for life style spend as the Maruti Suzuki Autocard can be used as an international credit card.

The loyalty cum rewards program offers attractive benefits to customers.

-- 6% reward on service bill, plus 500 exchange loyalty bonus for each periodic service at any Maruti authorized workshop
-- 3% reward on purchase of car insurance and Maruti Genuine Accessories
-- 1.5% reward on purchase of fuel at IOC petrol stations. (0% surcharge for all fuel purchases)
-- 1000 points can be earned for each referral given by a customer which gets converted into sale of a new Maruti Suzuki car
-- 1% reward on all spends at card accepting establishments.

Besides expenditure on car maintenance, even a Sunday night meal out or a shopping trip can contribute to making the customer’s next Maruti Suzuki car a whole lot cheaper.

The customer has the option to carry over the points for redemption against exchange (trade-in) of his car for a new Maruti Suzuki car. In addition to autopoints earned by customers, Maruti and its dealers will provide attractive exchange loyalty bonus based on regular servicing and age of car at the time of exchange.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Jagdish Khattar, Managing Director of Maruti Udyog Limited, said, “Maruti’s loyalty and rewards programme is designed to genuinely benefit our customers. They can earn and redeem points conveniently, from their normal car-related and lifestyle spends, and be rewarded handsomely when they buy their next Maruti Suzuki car. We are delighted to be associated with Indian Oil and Citibank, both leaders in their respective domain, in this programme”.

Mr. Sarthak Behuria, Chairman, IndianOil, said, “We are glad to be the Fuel Partner to Maruti’s Autocard programme. With over 15,000 retail outlets in the IndianOil group, we are networked throughout the Indian subcontinent right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Kohima. Our long association with Maruti has been continuously enriched by the mutual value addition that we have pursued whether it is in fuels or lubricants. SERVO, India’s largest selling lubricant brand is already an integral part of the Maruti OEM family. With the other partner, Citibank, we have had the unique distinction of being one of the pioneers of co-brand credit cards in the country.”

“Presently, IndianOil Citibank Credit Card is one of the largest co-brand credit cards in India. Ultimately, our endeavor is to keep looking at newer and more innovative ways to reach out to customers. In the marketplace, half the battle is won when you have the right coalition,” Mr. Behuria added.

Mr. P. S. Jayakumar, Country Business Manager, Global Consumer Group, Citigroup India said, “The Maruti Loyalty programme truly places the customer at centrestage making the car owner’s relationship with Maruti deeper, more meaningful and longstanding.”

“I believe that the programme will set a benchmark for the industry as a whole. We at Citibank are delighted to leverage our strengths as a leading card issuer to partner Maruti in this first-of its kind programme”, Mr. Jayakumar added.

With a strong customer base of over 4.5 million, Maruti hopes to enrol over one million customers. Maruti is setting up a Partner Relationship Cell, as it expects many more partners to join the Loyalty cum Reward Programme. This will help Maruti to offer even more benefits to its customers.



Contact

Arun Arora, Maruti Udyog Limited, +91(011) 23738141
[email protected]