Suzuki's first-ever EV to be produced in India for domestic and global market

While the much-awaited Maruti Suzuki eVX in production form, which will be Suzuki's first ever electric vehicle (EV) passenger vehicle, is slated to make its debut by the end of this year, it has been confirmed that it will be manufactured in India and sold in the domestic market as well as exported to select global markets.

During the Gujarat Vibrant Summit 2024, Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President, Suzuki Motor Corporation, stated that the first EV model from Suzuki group will be rolled out from the Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG) by the end of this year and will be sold not only in India but will also be exported to Japan and select European countries.

The Suzuki president further said that the company will be investing ₹3,200 crore for its battery electric vehicle (BEV) production to add a fourth production line at SMG. This addition will take the total annual production from the plant to one million units from the current 7.5 lakh units. This production line will be operational in FY26.

Toshihiro further added that the company is also looking at investing another ₹3,500 crore to set up a second facility for SMG which would have an annual production capacity of one million. The facility will be in operation from FY29 and will take the total production capacity of SMG to two million annually.

During his speech, the Suzuki president spoke highly of India stating that the country's automobile market has been increasing steadily during the last 10 years. He added that the company expects that this year the vehicle production from the country will be 1.7 times of what it was in 2014 while the exports will be 2.6 times as compared to 10 years ago.

Suzuki plans to secure a production capacity of approximately four million units in India by FY30 in view of the expanding Indian automotive market. Earlier in 2022, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) announced an investment of ₹13,000 crore to set up the Kharkhoda production plant. This facility will be in operation from 2025 onwards and will annually produce 2.5 lakh vehicles initially.

Suzuki also claimed that with a keen eye on reduction of greenhouse emissions, it will be focusing on a 'multi-pathway' approach by offering multiple sustainable vehicle options such as CNG, biogas, bioethanol and green hydrogen in addition to BEVs. The company stated that taking advantage of India's animal wealth, the company will start the production of biogas from cow dung. Interestingly, in collaboration with National Dairy Development Board and Banas Diary, the company has started the construction of four biogas plants in Gujarat.

It was learned earlier that out of the three million vehicles that Maruti Suzuki India plans to sell in India, 60 per cent of sales will come from ICE models, of which 35 per cent will be CNG models. The remaining sales will be made up of pure ICE, biofuel, and flex fuel models.