Maruti Suzuki does have the potential to take the lead position in the Indian EV market as it has partnership with Toyota
Maruti Suzuki is attempting to enter the EV segment of Indian auto market. The brand could join the fraternity of automakers developing EVs for domestic market sooner than expected. Also, the Indo-Japanese brand has chance to take lead position in the EV space too thanks to its recent partnership with Toyota, a brand that has made significant progress in EV development.
Indian government has made it clear that it wants to introduce zero emission pure electric mobility across the country by 2030. In that case, Indian will become a huge market for the electric vehicles. Currently, only Mahindra sells its EVs like e2o Plus, e-Verito and e-Supro here. Tata too are working on electric variants of Nano and Tiago that are expected to launch soon. Apart from that, other brands too are gearing up to introduce their electric cars in the country. In this scenario, Maruti Suzuki can’t sit back and wait for the right time.
Also read: 2017 Maruti Suzuki Celerio Launched In India At Rs. 4.15 Lakh
Maruti Suzuki has already started the process of rolling out EVs here. Setting up the battery plant in Gujarat, inking partnership with Toyota are just part of that strategy. As we reported few days back, Suzuki could join the Toyota-Mazda-Denso alliance in order to develop EVs, that would also help the Maruti Suzuki with advanced electric powertrain technology.
In near future, we might see Maruti Suzuki rolling out electric powered variants of its popular models. On the other hand, it could introduce fully new electric powered models as well. With locally produced battery in association with Toshiba and Denso, Maruti Suzuki will be able to sell EVs at competitive pricing.
Also read: Maruti Celerio X Bookings Begun; Launch On October 2nd Week
The lithium-ion battery plant in Gujarat will see total investment of Rs. 1,151 crore. Toshiba is responsible to manufacture the cell module using Denso’s technology. These batteries will be used to power the Maruti Suzuki electrified cars including fully electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid models.