Suzuki to Invest $8 Billion in India, First Electric Vehicle Officially Begins Production

According to a report by Reuters, on August 26, Toshihiro Suzuki, the chairman and president of Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation, stated that the company will invest 700 billion rupees (approximately 8 billion USD) in India over the next five to six years. Meanwhile, Suzuki's first electric vehicle has officially begun production in India.

e Vitara; Image source: Suzuki

Suzuki Motor Corporation is committed to consolidating its leading position in India, the world's third-largest automobile market. By holding a majority stake in Maruti Suzuki, the Indian market has become Suzuki's largest market in terms of sales and revenue.

Despite the current slowdown in electric vehicle sales growth, India will still become Suzuki's global production hub for electric vehicles. Suzuki plans to export electric vehicles from India to 100 countries, including the domestic Japanese and European markets.

On August 26, Maruti Suzuki commenced commercial production of the mid-sized "e Vitara" SUV at its factory in Gujarat, India. This model will compete with Hyundai's Creta and Mahindra's XUV 9e.

Toshihiro Suzuki stated that the Gujarat plant is planned to have an annual production capacity of 1 million vehicles and will become one of the world's largest automobile manufacturing centers in the future.

It is worth noting that the Indian government hopes that by 2030, electric vehicle sales in India will account for 30% of the country's total vehicle sales, whereas last year this proportion was only 2.5%. Suzuki Motor Corporation predicts that by 2047, the annual sales volume of the Indian automobile market will reach 20 million units; its Indian subsidiary Maruti Suzuki aims to capture a 50% market share in India by 2030.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the launch ceremony for the production of electric vehicles and stated that the commencement of operations at this factory is "a significant step" towards the Indian government's "Make in India" initiative.

Prime Minister Modi plans to visit Japan next week. He pointed out that the Maruti Suzuki partnership is a model of the strong business relations and people-to-people ties between India and Japan.

Modi once again called on the public to buy domestic products, emphasizing that "domestic products" refer to all goods produced in India, regardless of the source of investment, including cars produced by Maruti Suzuki.