Suzuki wants to sell India-made products to the world, sets sights on 5 million sales from Maruti

Suzuki Motor Corporation is keen to sell those cars to the world that are developed and made in India as the country assumes a bigger place in the Japanese company’s strategy till 2030.

The parent company of Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest car maker, has called for a change in its 'way of thinking’ to achieve these targets.

“We believe fulfilling India would lead to fulfilling other markets by globally expanding models developed for India. The management and every single one of our employees need to change their way of thinking and effectively distribute resources - people, goods and capital - to more than double from our present size,” the company said in a report.

This effectively means that India would serve as the hotbed for most of Suzuki’s future models including those powered by alternate fuel technology such as electric and fuel cells. Maruti is already responsible for doing a major part of the work, including designing (Vitara Brezza for instance), in India.

“India will become the hub for Suzuki for all small and mid-sized cars for markets which are similar to India. Volkswagen or Hyundai too are developing India as a hub but not on the same scale as Suzuki. They would rather make India as a hub than Japan. No other manufacturer will be able to match the cost structure of Suzuki in India. They are anyway reducing focus on Japan,” said VG Ramakrishnan, MD and Managing Partner, Aventeum Advisors LLP.

The Indian subsidiary has reduced dependence on its parent company substantially compared to earlier years through strengthening of product development and design wing.

“In or around 2030, there is possibility that India would grow to be a 10 million unit market. If we are to maintain the current market share of 50 percent, Suzuki would have to produce 5 million units,” the report stated.

Last fiscal, Maruti clocked India volumes of 1.64 million units, a growth of 14 percent over FY17, commanding a market share of 50 percent. In addition, it sold 1.23 lakh units outside India, as per data supplied to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. The company said it hopes to sell 2 million units this year and 3 million by 2025.

Parent Suzuki gave up its aspirations on two of the biggest world markets – US (in 2012) and China (in 2018) – after years of lacklustre performance. Only India and Japan, among the top 5 automobile markets, remain lucrative for Suzuki.

“The automobile industry is undergoing a period of great transformation. In such a transformation, it is necessary to imagine the targeted aspect 10-15 years ahead and trace back to the present to think about what should be done from now,” it said.

Suzuki has joined hands with Toyota Motor Corporation to develop next generation fuel technology. Affordable electric cars have assumed the central role for 2 companies, especially for the Indian market, where the first all-electric car will debut in 2020.