New Delhi : India’s domestic automaker Maruti Suzuki India has planned to launch about 10 new cars including electric vehicles by the year 2030. About half a dozen electric cars will also be included in the number of cars that will be made by the company. The automaker has also revealed its plans to increase production and sales volumes as part of the Maruti 3.0 strategy. Under this plan, Maruti Suzuki India also aims to double the total sales to 4 million units per year by 2032. Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava said the company aims to have 28 models in its portfolio by FY2031, leaving the current 18 models.
‘Maruti 3.0’ campaign launched to increase production
Maruti Suzuki India is launching a special campaign named ‘Maruti 3.0’ to add an annual production capacity of 2 million units in nine years. The company’s chairman RC Bhargava said that by the financial year 2030-31, the company will launch 28 models in the market. In his address to the company’s shareholders in the 2022-23 Annual Report, he said that SUV sales in India have been growing steadily and the growth rate of the entry-level small car market is unlikely to reach the former level… The company is now reorganizing its production plants. He said that the company is estimating the actual situation and future.
Indian car market becomes third largest in the world
RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki India, also said that the Indian car industry is not expected to grow in double digits, as happened in China in the past. We expect that the growth rate of six percent will be maintained till the financial year 2030-31. Highlighting the steps taken by the company to meet the future demand, he said that what is being planned now can be called the beginning of ‘Maruti 3.0’. Our first phase was when we were a public enterprise. The second phase ended with the Kovid epidemic and the Indian car market became the third largest in the world. The challenges facing the company are unprecedented.
Took 40 years to build a capacity of 2 million units
He said that it took us 40 years to build a capacity of 2 million units and SMC (Suzuki Motor Corporation) completed it by setting up the Gujarat plant. The company now has to add another 20 lakh units of capacity in the next nine years. Maruti Suzuki expects that the demand for exports will continue to grow and exports may increase to 7.5 lakh to eight lakh cars by the financial year 2030-31. He said that due to domestic demand and export requirements, it has become necessary for the company to add an additional 20 lakh units of manufacturing capacity.
Maruti Suzuki restructuring production facilities
Maruti Suzuki is now restructuring its production facilities to suit the realities and future under the Maruti 3.0 plan. The plan includes focusing more on SUVs and crossovers, as the auto company has been tasting success in this segment over the past few years with a wide range of products. On the other hand, the sales numbers of small cars, the traditional strength of Maruti Suzuki, have seen a decline. This trend has forced Maruti Suzuki to rethink its product strategy, where utility vehicles like SUVs and MPVs will get more attention than small hatchbacks. Maruti Suzuki has four very well accepted SUVs in the market and we are on our way to assume leadership in this segment. We will continue to gradually increase our market share, which had declined in the last two or three years.
Maruti to take over Suzuki’s Gujarat plant
A few days ago, Maruti Suzuki had revealed that it would completely acquire the Gujarat plant of Suzuki Motor Corporation. The chairman of Maruti Suzuki India has indicated that this plant will play an important role in the strategy of increasing production volumes. He said it took us 40 years to build a capacity of 2 million units and SMC (Suzuki Motor Corporation) helped in the process by setting up the Gujarat facility. Your company will now have to add another 20 lakh units over a period of 9 years.
Maruti is setting up a plant in Kharkhonda, Haryana
Addressing the shareholders of the company, he also said that the work on the plant at Kharkhoda in Haryana is in progress and it is expected that the first plant with 2.5 lakh capacity will start production in the first half of 2025. After this, a similar plant will be set up. At the same time 10 million were added each year to reach the capacity. However, the production of 4 million cars per annum is not the only benchmark that Maruti Suzuki is aiming to achieve. The automaker is likely to ramp up production further in the coming years.