On Sunday, Suzuki Motor Corporation made its huge investment announcement in India. The automaker broke the news following Japanese PM Fumio Kishida’s visit.
Though a late entrant in the electric car market, Maruti Suzuki will now wrestle with its competitors Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, and Hyundai, who are already in the fray.
The Japanese carmaker will invest Rs.10,440 crores into the electrification of cars. Nearly Rs.3100 crores for producing electric vehicles (EVs) and Rs.7300 for developing batteries alone.
Suzuki plans to develop a new factory for making EVs alongside its Gujarat plant, which is to benefit from Government’s Production Line Incentive (PLI) Scheme. Works on developing lithium-ion batteries are already in progress with Denso Corp and Toshiba at Hansalpur in Gujarat.
With the investment, Suzuki Motor Corporation is looking at designing and mass-producing EVs that can also be exported to European and South Asian countries while catering to the domestic Indian market.
Soon, Suzuki Motor will roll out electric cars through Maruti Suzuki and Toyota, Indian subsidiaries of the global carmaker. With localized production, Maruti will be able to offer EVs at competitive prices and influence the manufacturing of cheaper electric cars.
Toshihiro Suzuki, President of Suzuki Motor Corporation, said, “Suzuki’s future mission is to achieve carbon neutrality with small cars.”
Venturing into the green mobility space in India, Maruti Suzuki will be able to give an impetus to the segment, which just saw a 65-70 percent jump in sales.
Last week, Indian PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida committed to investing $42 billion in India over the next five years.
The bilateral summit also underscored India’s efforts in creating the right environment for Japanese investors, assuring them ease of business and growth prospectus.
Suzuki’s investment announcement on Sunday aligns with the Indo-Japanese joint business effort. In addition, it also underlines India’s resolve to shift from fuel-driven vehicles to much cleaner electric vehicles.