Jagdish Khattar, the former managing director of Maruti Udyog (Maruti Suzuki India Ltd), took his last breath on Monday. He was 78. Khattar, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, had joined Maruti as an officer on special duty (OSD) in 1992 and became its director of sales and marketing operations.
In 1999, he was promoted as the joint managing director of the firm at a time when Maruti was dealing with several problems. Khattar’s career also reflected that of Maruti’s chairman R.C. Bhargava, who was also an IAS officer, but resigned to join Maruti permanently in the mid-1980s.
Khattar oversaw Maruti’s operations during one of the most challenging periods in its history and successfully represented the auto industry’s demands for changes in regulations and taxation structure before the government via the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
As per Bhargava, Khattar undertook a number of initiatives during his years at Maruti and it was quite a productive time for the firm. “He was the
managing director of the company for almost eight years and before that he was the head of marketing. Being an IAS officer, he had a smooth transition after joining Maruti. Under his watch, the company went public quite successfully and he also dealt with the labour strike during his time. In fact, the Manesar plant was set up under him," he added.
The most noteworthy decision taken by Khattar during his stint in Maruti was to set up its insurance, used car, accessories and businesses, which are successful ventures, providing a separate source of revenue for Maruti’s dealers.
As per people who had worked with him, Khattar established the businesses after reading a paper published by Ford Motor Co., which indicated that the value paid by a customer while purchasing a car is just 33% of the total costs borne by him or her during the lifecycle of the product.
“One day, he walked into the sales and marketing area of the old Maruti office and summoned all the top executives in the department. He showed us the paper from Ford and said that Maruti should also try to strive towards engaging with the customer while they own the vehicle. That was the germination of the project," recalled Avik Chattopadhyay, a former employee at Maruti and founder of Expereal, a brand consultancy company.
Khattar had his share of divergences with the top management of the parent, Suzuki Motor Corp., on a number of issues, including recruitment, product development and the broader strategy of the firm for its India operations.
Khattar retired from Maruti in 2007 and started his own venture, Carnation Auto, a multi-brand automobile services platform.
His time span as an entrepreneur nevertheless ended on a sour note as the project failed and investigation agencies, including the CBI, booked him for alleged financial losses. But Khattar maintained that Carnation Auto was an unaffected business failure.