Suzuki has the biggest market share (50%) of passenger car segment in India yet it had not made any moves towards electric cars in a country that is keen on reducing its independence on oil. However, that’s about to change following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Suzuki Motor Corporation and the State of Gujarat, India to invest in local manufacturing of electric vehicles and EV batteries.
The Japanese automaker is planing to invest approximately 150 billion yen (approximately 104.4 billion rupees or $1.24 billion). The investment will go towards building a battery plant and increasing production capacity for battery electric vehicle manufacturing at Suzuki Motor Gujarat Private Limited (SMG) which is expected to start operations by 2025. The announcement is part of a bigger plan by Japan to invest 5 trillion yen (around $42 billion) over the next five years in India.
At the moment, an Indian automaker – Tata Motors – is the largest seller of electric vehicles in the country with a 70% market share. The company offers two choices, the Tigor EV and Nexon EV.
“Suzuki’s future mission is to achieve carbon neutrality with small cars,” said Toshihiro Suzuki, Director and President of the Suzuki Motor Corporation. “We will continue active investment in India to realize Self-reliant India.”
