THE KEY PILLARS OF MARUTI’S REINVENTION

The Indian market is very different from the market in Europe, the US or Japan. Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) wants to develop an Indiaspecific decarbonisation strategy, which will include a mix of fuel technologies including hybrid, CNG, EV and even biofuel

For Suzuki, hybrid vehicles account for nearly 24 per cent of its global sales. India is the only big market where hybrid sales are as low as 8.9 per cent. It is hoping to replicate its success of 74.9 per cent hybrid penetration in Europe in the Indian market on the back of new launches

Another key pillar for Maruti is CNG technology where it already has around 82 per cent share in India. The company is looking to produce 450,000-500,000 CNG vehicles in FY23 amid growing consumer preference triggered by a sharp increase in petrol and diesel prices

Suzuki Motor Corporation’s wholly owned subsidiary Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG) has announced an investment of `7,300 crore for the construction of a battery plant near SMG’s automobile manufacturing unit by 2026. SMG will also invest another `3,100 crore for ramping up production capacity for electric vehicles by 2025. They envision India as a strategic export hub for Suzuki’s electric vehicles globally

Maruti is planning a line-up of mid-size and entry-level SUVs to fill a gap in those segments and compete better in the marketplace

These factors, the company believes, will help gradually increase its passenger vehicles market share in India to close to 50 per cent