Suzuki Motor Corp is to set up a global research and Development Company in India. Pushing deeper into a market that is set to become an electric vehicle (EV) hub for the Japanese carmaker said its president said on Sunday.
The new establishment, a solely maintained unit of Suzuki Japan, will strengthen the carmaker’s R&D effectiveness and competencies in India and other global markets, Toshihiro Suzuki told an event in Gandhinagar, the capital of western Gujarat state. “India has become one of the most important countries for Suzuki Group,” he also added saying that Suzuki would keep investing heavily in the country.
Suzuki, which already forms combustion engine cars in India for its local unit Maruti Suzuki and export, will 2025 start producing EVs at its factory in Gujarat. It is also setting up a single plant in the state to build batteries for EVs starting in 2026.
The Japanese carmaker has said it will employ more than 104 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) on its electrification strategies in India, creating it one of Suzuki’s biggest battery and EV investments globally. Whereas, it has already invested 650 billion rupees in the country.
“India plays a significant role as a global automobile production hub in Suzuki Group,” Suzuki said. Suzuki also has a joint venture with Japan’s Denso Corp and Toshiba Corp to build lithium-ion batteries for hybrid cars for native use and exports.
Suzuki is the majority owner of Maruti, which directs India’s car market with its small, low-cost vehicles. But the company aspects growing rivalry as purchasers shift to larger cars such as sports-utility vehicles (SUVs) and regulators mandate safer and greener cars, increasing costs.
India is also assertive toward carmakers to build more electric cars by offering companies billions of dollars in incentives.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said EVs are starting “a silent revolution in the country” and that his government was acting to boost the demand and supply of these clean vehicles.
Electrification is seen as a contest for Maruti which wants New Delhi to incentivize all cleaner technologies, including hybrid and ethanol, and not just EVs, which it supposes to launch only in 2025.
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