Maruti Suzuki partners with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to train young aspirants in Automotive Retail
Mumbai : Maruti Suzuki India Limited today announced that it has partnered with Tata Institute of Social Sciences – School of Vocational Education (TISS-SVE), Mumbai to train youth in automotive retail. Under the partnership, the Company along with TISS-SVE will offer a customized 3 year “Bachelor of Vocation (B.Voc.) in Retail Management with specialization in Automotive Retail”. The programme will focus on imparting industry relevant technical and soft skills to the youth making them readily employable in the automobile retail value chain.
Mr. Manoj Agrawal, Executive Vice President, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, and Professor Shalini Bharat, Vice Chancellor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, signed the partnership agreement today in a virtual ceremony.
Named as ‘Sales Master’, the three-year programme will comprise one-year classroom training followed by two-year on-the-job training at Maruti Suzuki authorized dealerships. The course curriculum, co-created by Maruti Suzuki and Tata Institute of Social Sciences – School of Vocational Education, is in line with the UGC guidelines and covers full spectrum business processes of automobile trade. These include Basics of Automobile Technology, Sales, Customer Relationship Management, Auto Finance, Auto Insurance, etc. Apart from giving hands-on experience at the dealerships, the students will also be taught Japanese work culture, soft skills, etc., which are essential for their growth in the automobile retail environment. Industry experts will be imparting these best practices during the course of the programme. Sessions for the first batch of academic year 2021-22 will start from October 2021. Under the ’Earn while Learn’ concept the students will also get an opportunity to earn a stipend during their on-the-job training at the dealerships.
Announcing the initiative, Mr. Manoj Agrawal, Executive Vice President, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, “One of the key challenges faced by the automobile industry is the availability of skilled personnel. With our association with Tata Institute of Social Sciences – School of Vocational Education, we aim to bridge this skill gap. The mandatory 24-month on-the-job training will provide in-depth knowledge to the students, prepare them to face real-life on-ground challenges and make them industry-ready.”
Speaking about the course, Professor Shalini Bharat, Vice Chancellor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai said, “With a strong commitment to provide quality education and skill-based training, we have initiated the Bachelor of Vocation (B.Voc.) in Retail Management with specialization in Automotive Retail in collaboration with Maruti Suzuki India Limited. The industry integrated programme will provide both theoretical as well as practical knowledge to students with regular industry interaction and on-the-job training. The course will allow the students to build a promising career in automobile sales in India.”
Maruti Suzuki’s tie-up with TISS-SVE is in continuation of its effort to offer skill-based training programmes to youth across the country. Earlier to this, the Company had initiated similar courses with Shri Vishwakarma Skill University in Gurugram, Haryana, GLS University in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and Savitribai Phule Pune University in Pune, Maharashtra.