CV RAMAN

SR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR– ENGINEERING, MARUTI SUZUKI

The Future S can be adapted to the A-platform (Ignis). Regarding the powertrain, we haven't yet thought so far into the future till now. Everything you see on the vehicle, for example wheel size, are all concept proportions. The final product won't see all that.

There are a lot of companies which believe in ‘family design' and you can easily make that out by looking at their product. We, however, don't have a ‘family design' because we build a vehicle for the requirements of a customer of a particular segment based on their needs, design, and user perspective. But there are some elements which have a very prominent ‘S' mark. Other than that, everything is very different. We believe each customer of a segment is different.

Electrification of the fleet will happen gradually over a period of time. We also need to look at our supplier ecosystem because the powertrain parts need to be changed along with the battery, motor and power electronics. This will lead into creation of an ecosystem for hybrid as well as electric because they are interlinked in some way. The requirements are different but the technology is similar.

We have to improve the petrol engines and improve efficiencies of that and then also look at other electrification technologies like mild hybrid and strong hybrid and so on and so forth.

I look at mobility as convenience. I have no preference for petrol or diesel. If I want to have a zippy drive and I want to really push to the limits, and I have an SUV, I would prefer a diesel engine because I would want to have an exhilarating feel. Similarly, for a small car, I may be okay with a petrol engine. So, if it's a diesel or a petrol or an electric does not matter. What matters is what is it doing to the environment and what is it doing to my own pocket.