By Aditi Shah
TOKYO (Reuters) -Suzuki Motor plans to launch eight sport utility vehicles in India over the next five to six years as it looks to reclaim market share lost to rivals, the Japanese automaker’s president Toshihiro Suzuki said on Wednesday.
The company is aiming to bring its share of the Indian market – currently at 38% – back to its pre-pandemic level of around 50%, even as competition is at its fiercest since Suzuki began operating in India four decades ago, he said.
“India is Suzuki’s most critical market and we have big plans for India,” Suzuki said on the sidelines of the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo.
Suzuki wants to be the biggest seller of electric cars in India and maintain its lead as the country’s biggest car exporter, he added.
FIGHTING OFF RIVALS, BOOSTING PRODUCTION CAPACITY
The new SUVs will bring Suzuki’s total product portfolio in India to 28 models.
“We are carefully bringing products and technologies to fulfill aspirations of people … from entry-level to large SUVs and MPVs,” Suzuki said.
He said the push would bring multiple powertrains to India, including hybrids as well as compressed natural gas and biogas-powered cars.
He did not give a timeline for meeting the goals.
Suzuki’s ambitious plans for India come as its local unit, Maruti Suzuki – still India’s biggest carmaker – has lost ground to rivals Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors.
In August, Suzuki announced plans to invest $8 billion in India, doubling a commitment it made earlier in the year.
The company’s president said the money will be invested in expanding annual production capacity in India to 4 million units from some 2.5 million units currently. Of this, a quarter will be used for exports.
“We would like to grow India as Suzuki’s global production hub,” Suzuki said.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah, additional reporting by Daniel Leussink and Maki Shiraki; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Joe Bavier)
