Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Tuesday said it has partnered with Mumba-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences - School of Vocational Education (TISS-SVE) to train youth in automotive retail.
Under the partnership, the company along with TISS-SVE will offer a customised three-year degree course in retail management with specialisation 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.
The three-year programme will comprise one-year classroom training followed by two-year on-the-job training at Maruti Suzuki authorised dealerships.
"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," MSI Executive Vice President Manoj Agrawal said in a statement.
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, he added.
The course curriculum, co-created by Maruti and TISS-SVE, is in line with the UGC guidelines and covers full-spectrum business processes of the automobile trade.
Apart from giving hands-on experience at the dealerships, the students will also be taught Japanese work culture, soft skills, etc.
Sessions for the first batch of the academic year 2021-22 will start from October 2021.
"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," TISS Vice-Chancellor Shalini Bharat stated.
MSI's tie-up with TISS-SVE is in continuation of its effort to offer skill-based training programmes to youth across the country.
The company had earlier initiated similar courses with Shri Vishwakarma Skill University in Gurugram, Haryana, GLS University in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and Savitribai Phule Pune University in Pune, Maharashtra.
