Sri Vijaya Puram, September 7: Rukmani Motors Pvt. Ltd., the authorised Maruti Suzuki dealer in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has completed one year of operations in the Islands, marking its first year with nearly 1,000 vehicle sales and plans for further expansion across the territory. The company currently operates its ARENA, NEXA and workshop facilities in Sri Vijaya Puram and has recently entered the commercial vehicle segment with Maruti Suzuki’s commercial channel. It is also expanding its presence in North and Middle Andaman, with a showroom in Diglipur already opened and another in Rangat expected to open this month.
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Ayush Baheti, CEO of Rukmani Motors Pvt. Ltd., said the company’s vision behind entering the Andaman market was to provide customers with the same level of trust, quality and ownership experience available to Maruti Suzuki customers across other parts of India. He said that over the past one year, the company’s focus had evolved from simply establishing its presence to building a strong and sustainable mobility ecosystem in the Islands, backed by better customer experience, a wider range of after-sales services and a long-term commitment to the people of Andaman.
Recalling the company’s first year of operations, Mr. Baheti said the journey had been particularly memorable because the first vehicle delivered by Rukmani Motors in the Islands was to a customer from Nicobar. He said he personally delivered the vehicle and still remembered the occasion when the customer, along with his daughter, arrived even before the showroom officially opened to take delivery. According to him, the showroom inauguration had been scheduled for 10 a.m., while the customer arrived at around 10:45 a.m. to take delivery of the vehicle. He described the moment as a touching and memorable experience for the company.
Mr. Ayush Baheti said that despite the geographical differences between the Islands and the company’s home market in Indore, the overall experience during the first year had been “amazing”. He said Rukmani Motors was looking forward to building a long-lasting relationship with customers in the Islands and would continue working to provide the best possible services.
Speaking about the unique nature of the Andaman automobile market, Mr. Baheti said vehicle ownership in the Islands often serves multiple purposes and is not limited to personal transportation. Customers, he said, look for fuel-efficient and reliable vehicles while also considering running costs, durability and the long-term ownership value offered by the brand. These factors, according to him, make Andaman a distinctive automobile market.
The company has also recently entered the commercial vehicle segment with the launch of Maruti Suzuki’s commercial channel in the Islands. Mr. Baheti said the Super Carry and Eeco Cargo were intended to provide mobility solutions for local businesses, particularly small businesses that require reliable transportation for their day-to-day operations. He said the commercial segment was introduced with the objective of giving another set of customers suitable options for business-related transportation.
Mr. Baheti said Rukmani Motors sees significant growth potential in the Andaman market and is targeting a 50 per cent market share. He said that during the last five months, the company had maintained a market share of around 40–41 per cent, leaving further scope for growth. With the expansion of its dealership network to Rangat, Diglipur and other islands, the company expects to strengthen its presence and move towards its 50 per cent market-share target. He also said the company was targeting monthly sales of around 150 vehicles.
Sharing an interesting observation from the company’s first-year customer data, Mr. Baheti said customers in Andaman showed a strong preference for higher variants and top-end models. While customers in many other markets often opt for lower or mid-level variants, he said customers in the Islands were showing a preference for Z variants, turbo variants and SUVs, with many customers willing to consider SUVs as their first cars. He described the trend as a unique characteristic of the Andaman market and said it was a positive sign for the company.
On logistical challenges and the higher cost of transporting materials to the Islands, Mr. Baheti said the company did not approach Andaman as a difficult market. Instead, he said, the company viewed the Islands as an opportunity. According to him, once a company sees an opportunity in a market, operational challenges become comparatively smaller. He added that issues such as logistics and road conditions existed in different forms across markets in India and were not reasons for the company to consider Andaman a challenging market.
Reflecting on the completion of one year, Mr. Baheti summed up the journey of Rukmani Motors in three words — trust, growth and commitment. He said the company had initially aimed to earn the trust of customers in Andaman and believed that it had made significant progress towards that goal. Growth, he said, was reflected in the company’s expansion plans in Rangat, Diglipur and other islands, while commitment represented its continued resolve to provide the best services to the people of Andaman in the coming years.
