
The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, has entered the electric vehicle (EV) space with the launch of the new e Vitara, but early volumes of the electric SUV could be shaped by production constraints at its Gujarat facility, according to a senior company official.
The e Vitara has been introduced at a Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) starting price of Rs 10.99 lakh, along with a battery rental cost of Rs 3.99 per kilometre. While Maruti Suzuki has not yet announced the complete pricing for the electric SUV, bookings have opened for a token amount of Rs 21,000.
Available with 61kWh and 49kWh battery pack options, the e Vitara has a claimed range of up to 543km for the larger pack. The BaaS price is applicable to the 49kWh version.
The e Vitara is currently being produced at the company's Hansalpur plant in Gujarat. The 640-acre facility operates three production lines with a combined annual capacity of 7,50,000 units and rolls out high-volume models such as the Baleno, Swift and Fronx. However, there is no dedicated EV line at present.
The electric SUV is being manufactured on the third line, which is shared with the Fronx, a model that continues to see strong demand.
Addressing capacity concerns at a select media briefing, Maruti Suzuki's Senior Executive Officer for Marketing and Sales, Partho Banerjee, said: "We have a little issue with our production capacity. We are having a line in Gujarat, which has a capacity of 1,00,000 units. But we have to cater to the demand of our original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), export market needs, and we are also producing the Fronx on the same line. The Fronx also has a huge waiting period."
"We are trying to calibrate how to keep a balance between export and domestic markets. That problem will be there till July. After the month of July, we are going to expand the capacity, and we should be able to take care of our customers. At the same time, we will ensure that customers do not have to wait for a longer time. We will be working on it to see how we keep a balance among all the models," he added.
Maruti Suzuki had earlier announced plans to set up a dedicated EV production line at Hansalpur with an annual capacity of 2,50,000 units. The new line, which involves an investment of Rs 3,200 crore, is nearing completion and is expected to become operational in early FY27.
The capacity balancing act comes even as Maruti Suzuki expressed confidence in demand for the e Vitara. "The market is good, and we are seeing tailwinds. Our e Vitara should be doing well," Banerjee observed.
When asked when Maruti Suzuki will announce the full pricing details of the e Vitara, he said: "The most important thing was the starting price. Other prices will also follow in due course of time."
Maruti Suzuki does not have an early mover's advantage in the EV market, which is currently dominated by the likes of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, JSW MG Motor India and Mahindra & Mahindra. The carmaker has argued in the past that it was focussed on developing an EV ecosystem before launching a product.
"We have been talking about not only the e Vitara but the overall ecosystem. We are again today reiterating that we are just not launching a product, but we are launching an overall ecosystem," Banerjee said.
In December 2025, Maruti Suzuki's MD and CEO, Hisashi Takeuchi, said the company invested nearly Rs 250 crore to establish charging infrastructure ahead of the e Vitara launch.
Maruti Suzuki has entered into agreements with 13 charge point operators and aggregators. The company has more than 2,000 exclusive charging points across its dealer network in over 1,100 cities. Also, 1.5 lakh technicians have been trained to take care of the e Vitara, it claimed.
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