India becomes Suzuki's second market to cross 3 crore cumulative production mark

n January, the company announced an investment of Rs 35,000 crore to set up its second plant in Gujarat.

India has become the second country for Suzuki Motor Corporation to cross cumulative production of 3 crore units, reaching the milestone even faster than it achieved in its home nation, the Japanese carmaker said on Wednesday. The company’s subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki India, has achieved accumulated automobile production of 3 crore units in India by the end of March 2024, Suzuki Motor Corporation said in a statement.

"India becomes the second country after Japan in which Suzuki has reached this milestone, and the fastest country to reach 30 million units in just 40 years and 4 months since starting production in December 1983, breaking the record of 55 years and 2 months in Japan," it said. Suzuki’s automobile production in India started with its first model, the Maruti 800 by the then Maruti Udyog Ltd, a joint venture between the company and the Government of India.

Currently, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) has manufacturing facilities at Gurugram, Manesar (in Haryana) and Hansalpur (in Gujarat), from where the vehicles are rolled out. In a separate statement, MSIL said, "While over 2.68 crore vehicles have been manufactured at the company’s Haryana-based facilities, over 32 lakh vehicles were produced at Suzuki Motor Gujarat, a wholly owned subsidiary of MSIL."

The M800, which revolutionised personal mobility in the country, played a significant role in this milestone with over 29 lakh units, it said, adding that other top contributors include successful models such as Alto 800, Alto K10, Swift, Wagon R, Dzire, Omni, Baleno, Eeco, Brezza and Ertiga. "We remain committed to 'Make in India' and have been strengthening our operations in the country, catering to domestic as well as global markets. We contribute nearly 40 per cent to the total vehicle exports from India," MSIL Managing Director & CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said.

With India becoming the world’s third-largest passenger vehicle market and poised to grow stronger in coming years, he said, "To fulfil customer demand and aspirations, we plan to invest further and increase our annual production capacity to 4 million units by FY 2030-31." Further, Takeuchi said, "Working towards this, we will set up two new green field manufacturing plants of 10 lakh capacity each at Kharkhoda, Haryana and Gujarat. We will also enhance our range of models from present 18 to 28 by FY 2030-31."

In January, the company announced an investment of Rs 35,000 crore to set up its second plant in Gujarat. Earlier in 2022, the company stated that it would invest Re 18,000 crore on a new manufacturing unit at Kharkhoda.