Brands
Maruti Suzuki adds swivel seat to WagonR to boost accessible mobility
NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki has introduced a swivel seat option for the WagonR, marking a rare push to make inclusive mobility mainstream in India’s mass car segment.
The new feature, designed for senior citizens and persons with disabilities, allows easier ingress and egress and can be ordered as a retrofit kit at Maruti Suzuki Arena dealerships. It can be fitted to new WagonR models or installed in existing vehicles without altering the car’s original structure.
The pilot programme has been rolled out across more than 200 dealerships in 11 cities and will be expanded based on customer response. With the WagonR among India’s top-selling cars, the company is betting that accessibility features can find scale beyond niche segments.
The initiative aligns with Suzuki Motor Corporation’s global philosophy of ‘by your side’ and with the United Nations’ sustainable development goal of reducing inequality. Maruti Suzuki said the move reflects its commitment to human-centric and socially responsive mobility solutions.
“Swivel seat will make daily travel more convenient for senior citizens and persons with disabilities,” said Maruti Suzuki India managing director and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi. By offering the feature on a high-volume model, he said, the company aims to extend the ‘joy of mobility’ to a wider audience with dignity and independence.
The swivel seat has been developed in collaboration with Bengaluru-based startup Trueassist Technology under Maruti Suzuki’s incubation programme with Nsrcel at IIM Bangalore. The kit offers fast installation of about an hour, does not replace the original OEM seat and comes with a three-year warranty against manufacturing defects.
The system has been tested and certified by the Automotive Research Association of India and meets applicable safety standards, according to the company.
By embedding assistive technology into a mainstream hatchback, Maruti Suzuki is positioning accessibility not as an add-on, but as a core feature of mass mobility.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
