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Suzuki Motors Made in India EVs:
Suzuki Motors Corporation, the Japanese auto giant and the parent concern of the pioneer of made-in-India cars by “Maruti Suzuki” ; has disclosed their plans to produce Made in India EVs in near future. The company has already set up infrastructural facilities for their proposed electric vehicles to be launched in late 2025 or the year after. For their optimistic venture Suzuki is also going to collaborate with another Japanese automotive giant The Toyota Corporation. Suzuki is already is in alliance with Toyota Kirloskar in India.
Suzuki’s New EV Battery Plant:
According to the plan, Suzuki Motors Corporation is to build a new factory in India to produce EV batteries that will start it’s production from 2025 or 2026. The battery plant will be set up near an existing Suzuki auto factory plant in the state of Gujarat. The plant is presently owned by Suzuki Motors Gujrat, which is a 100 percent subsidiary farm of Suzuki Motors that supplies for Maruti Suzuki vehicles.
The plan for new factory was officially announced in an economic forum on March 19, 2022 after a meeting between the Japanese prime minister Mr. Fumio Kishida and Indian prime minister Mr. Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Mr. Kishida discloses his plan to invest about ¥5 trillion yen ( about ₹300 thousand crores INR) in India over the next 5 years.( ₹1 INR= 1.57 Yen)
The Present EV Battery Plant:
Suzuki Motor Corporation already owns a Lithium-ion battery plant at Hansalpur, Becharaji in Gujarat which was set up in 2017. The plant has been set up with a joint venture between Toshiba, Denso Corporation and Suzuki and is named as TDS Lithium-ion battery Gujarat Pvt. Ltd. (TDSG). With the initial investment of ₹ 1250 crore INR ($180 million USD) The plant is first of it’s kind in India. The plant is also reported to receive support from the PLI (production linked incentive) scheme for ACC (advanced chemistry cell) manufacturing in India. The manufacturing units are expected to produce around 30 million Lithium ion batteries a year to be needed for the EV industry.
As most of the Indian auto manufacturers import their Lithium-ion batteries from China as as India has a big optimistic future in the EV market, the plant with it’s proposed stable supply of affordable Lithium ion batteries might provide a boost to Indian EV industry promoting an environment of the production of sustainable technology for the mass production of Electric vehicles. The plant will also export batteries outside the country in future.
The Suzuki investment:
Suzuki is looking forward to make affordable EV models in both Japan and India in the future years. Suzuki intends to spend a total of 2.2 trillion Yen on research and development and capital investment in India. About one trillion Yen will go for research and development specially for the electric vehicles. It is estimated that about 10,440 crore INR will be invested by Suzuki for the development of EVs alone. About ₹3100 crore will be invested to heighten EV production and ₹7300 crore for EV battery manufacturing.
Suzuki,Toyota and BYD:
As Suzuki’s alliance Toyota Corporation has entered into an agreement with BYD(Build Your Dreams) Electronic, the famous battery manufacturer in China, for the joint development of BYD Blade batteries, that are supposed to be more energy dense and economical, the future of Blade batteries in India seems to be positive. It is a possibility that the Blade cells sourced from BYD,China might be assembled into battery packs for EVs in the Gujarat plant. BYD has already introduced it’s own EV E6 MPV in India that runs with it’s Blade batteries.
Suzuki Future in India:
Maruti Suzuki has already a strong grasp in India’s automobile market in the IC ( internal combustion) engine segment and is one of the most trusted brand in market. It leads the passenger vehicle segment with market share of 42.53% in the last year and it hovers round 50% usually in the last few years. Their cars like Alto, Wagon R and Swift Dzire are the most loved cars along the country since their first coming into the market with Maruti 800.
Though Suzuki hasn’t launched any electric vehicle so far, still Maruti Suzuki is a very trusted name known to every household in India. Being one of the oldest car manufacturer in India, it is expected that Maruti Suzuki electric cars would eagerly be acclaimed and accepted widely in the market as soon as they are launched.
