The made-in-India EV will be the first commercially produced passenger electric car for Suzuki
As India is thriving towards pure electric mobility by 2030, country’s biggest passenger vehicle maker Maruti Suzuki doesn’t want to stay back. That is why the Indo-Japanese automaker is gearing up to produce electric vehicles in its Gujarat plant. Not only for the domestic market, Maruti will manufacturer EVs for the overseas markets as well and the Gujarat plant will act as the production hub.
In that case, it will be the first commercially produced pure electric car from the Japanese auto giant. Suzuki has already partnered with a Toyota owned company Denso for the technology to be used in its own lithium-ion battery packs that are to be built in Gujarat plant. These lithium-ion battery packs will charge Maruti Suzuki’s pure electric and hybrid cars in future.
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The company has also tied up with Toshiba for the chip to be used in the upcoming electric vehicles. This EV plant will see a total investment of Rs. 1,151 crore from three companies (Suzuki, Denso and Toshiba). This will be functional from 2020. We can expect the plant to produce all-new electric models as well as electric versions of the current IC engine powered models.
Apart from the electric vehicles, the Maruti Suzuki is also aiming to increase the number of conventional fuel powered car production from Gujarat. Suzuki is preparing to pump in a fresh investment of Rs. 3,900 crore in a new plant in Gujarat that to be established at Hansalpur with a manufacturing capacity of 2.5 lakh units per annum. This new plant is expected to start rolling out cars by 2019.
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Maruti Suzuki currently produces its premium hatchback Baleno from its existing Gujarat plant that comes with an annual production capacity of 2.5 lakh units. Overall, Maruti Suzuki will roll out cars from its three plants in next decade. With this, it will not only consolidate its top position in the domestic market, its market share is expected to grow in global market too.
Source: ET