Following the announcement, R S Kalsi takes over as head of Domestic Marketing & Sales. He currently serves as Executive Director, heading the Parts, Accessories and Outbound Logistics divisions of Maruti Suzuki. Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director continues to head International Marketing. Mr Kalsi and Mr Srivastava, will report to Managing Director.
With Kalsi heading domestic Marketing and Sales efforts, and Shashank spearheading international operations, Maruti Suzuki will be in good position as the automaker moves towards its medium term goal of 2 million annual vehicles sales.
Mayank Pareek is known for success of many Maruti Suzuki products and he was instrumental in penetration into rural markets. He is likely to continue his career in automotive industry and would disclose his plans shortly. Another official mentioned Pareek is heading for better prospects. Rumours suggest Pareek will soon be seen aboard Maruti Suzuki’s rival, Tata Motors.
It seems talks of Pareek’s resignation started during Delhi Auto Expo earlier this year, which was strongly denied by the company. In recent times, Maruti Suzuki has undergone a shuffle in senior management with the Japanese (Suzuki Motors Corporation) tightening the leash on various critical functions, including Human Resources activities. The management shuffle led to three senior Chief Operating Officers (COO) being asked to share responsibilities with Japanese guest officials from Suzuki.
This was just after the serious labour problems at Manesar plant, which lasted a year between 2011 and 2012. During same time, Mayank Pareek who was serving as COO of Marketing & Sales, was promoted and re-designated as senior Executive Officer for a handful of departments whose executives were demoted. It was then Maruti Suzuki scrapped COO’s designation and issued nomenclature of senior Executive Officer or Executive Officer and Vice Presidents.
Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India elaborated on Kalsi’s role at Maruti. He has served as National Sales Head, before which he spearheaded new businesses including Maruti Insurance, Maruti Driving Schools, Maruti Finance and Maruti True Value. beginning as engineer on Maruti’s shop floor, he has worked in multiple capacities here including with the automaker’s domestic dealer network.
