Maruti Suzuki parent to invest Rs 10,440 crore to manufacture electric vehicles and batteries in India
Maruti Suzuki's parent firm, Suzuki Motor Corporation, has announced that it will invest Rs 10,440 crore in India to set up an electric vehicle manufacturing facility and an EV battery plant in India. The company signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) in this regard with the state of Gujarat on March 19 at the India-Japan economic forum.
Suzuki EV manufacturing investment IndiaAs per this MoU, Suzuki will invest Rs 3,100 crore in its Suzuki Motor Gujarat manufacturing facility to expand it to support electric vehicle production by 2025. A further Rs 7,300 crore will also be invested in this facility to set up an electric vehicle battery plant in 2026. The remaining amount will be utilized by Maruti Suzuki Toyotsu to set up a vehicle recycling plant.
Toshihiro Suzuki, president of Suzuki Motor Corporation, said of this development, "Suzuki's future mission is to achieve carbon neutrality with small cars."
2025 Maruti Suzuki EV launchThis development ties in with reports that Suzuki plans to begin its foray into the EV space starting with the Indian market by 2025. This points to a Maruti Suzuki EV launching in the country by this time. This EV is also reported to be aggressively priced, with Suzuki targeting a sub JPY 1.5 million price tag after subsidies, which amounts to Rs 10 lakh. This sub-10 lakh Maruti Suzuki EV will be a compact car, so either a hatchback or a mini-SUV can be expected. This vehicle should be co-developed by Toyota and may spawn a Toyota derivative as well. This expansion will make Suzuki's Gujarat facility a global manufacturing hub for its and Toyota's low cost EVs.
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