India will be the global production hub for Suzuki Motor’s electric cars and it plans to export the vehicles to Japan as well as other markets, such as Europe, despite a slowdown in electric vehicle sales, the manufacturer’s chief said on Thursday. of automobiles.
India is the largest market by sales and revenue for Suzuki Motor, present there through its majority stake in market leader Maruti Suzuki.
On Friday, Maruti will launch its first electric vehicle in India, the e Vitara mid-size SUV, which will be exported across the world and will also be supplied to Suzuki’s partner Toyota Motor Corp.
“For Suzuki, the merit of scale in India is our strength, and we will fully leverage this advantage to supply attractive and high-quality products in various markets such as Europe, Japan, Middle East, Africa, Central and South America,” Suzuki Motor Chairman said. Toshihiro Suzuki to journalists in New Delhi.
“Globally, the EV market is slow, but I think in India there is a chance for EV sales to grow,” he said.
Electric vehicle sales growth in India slowed to 20 percent last year from about 115 percent in 2023, but it still outpaced overall auto market growth of 4 percent and the government has an ambitious target. to increase its market share to 30 percent by 2030 from about 2.5 percent from 4.3 percent. million cars sold last year.
Suzuki has responded to concerns about the vehicle range and charging network by installing chargers at its service centers and will expand into small electric vehicles once it has perfected the technology and manufacturing, the carmaker’s boss said.
It will also develop other green technologies, such as hybrids, gas and hydrogen, Suzuki said.
Suzuki Motor plans to invest more than $4 billion in India to double car production capacity to 4 million units a year by 2031, launch new models and defend its market share.
Maruti has long dominated the Indian car market with its small, affordable vehicles, but its share has fallen to around 40 percent today from a high of more than 50 percent in 2020, as competitors such as Hyundai Motor and Tata Motors brought feature-rich premium SUVs to the market. market.
“India has become the third-largest automobile market, making it the focus of everyone’s attention,” Suzuki said.
He said Maruti intended to recover its 50 per cent stake, but did not give a time frame.
