Fortune India Magazine - October 2018

In this issue

Anniversary Issue: 8th Anniversary-
Eight years is not a very long time, but ever since Fortune India was launched in 2010, the enormous strides taken by the Indian economy and several significant developments in the corporate sector tell us that these years have been both dramatic and highly eventful. To give you a sense of this, elsewhere in this issue we bring you some of the key faces who grabbed headlines for various reasons—good and bad— and why we feel they made news. In this eighth anniversary double-cover issue, we also get you the exclusive story of legendary former Cisco Systems boss John Chambers’ entry into the lucrative cybersecurity market in India, by way of an investment in Lucideus, the firm co-founded by ethical hacker Saket Modi. Other interesting read is our cover story of this anniversary issue which is on Maruti, a car brand synonymous with the vast Indian mass market. Ever since the carmaker started its journey nearly 35 years ago, it has managed to stay ahead of the competition with a smart mix of affordable models aimed at the middle-class buyer. Much of Maruti Suzuki India’s success can be attributed to its chairman, R.C. Bhargava, and, more recently, its razor-sharp strategist Kenichi Ayukawa, who is its chief executive. The Bhargava-Ayukawa duo has managed to beat intense competition of late and ensure the company stays firmly on the road to profitable growth. Consider some recent figures: Today, one in every two cars sold is a Maruti, its market capitalisation is over `2 lakh crore, and its 2017-18 net profit was a record `7,722 crore. Validation enough that the company is in fine fettle. However, as Debabrata Das and Prerna Lidhoo tell us the company managed this performance by undertaking some key tweaks to its strategy. Known primarily as a maker of no-frills, functional cars, the company decided to expand its horizon and move beyond hatchbacks to sedans and sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Happy reading!