The country’s largest carmaker will be taking some “mega steps” over the next few years to strengthen its leadership in the Indian market, Takeuchi said.
“Looking at the immense potential of the Indian automobile market, our parent company, Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC), has outlined a robust growth plan. Our parent company is targeting doubling turnover by FY31. India will play a very big role in realising this goal,” Takeuchi said, adding the Indian subsidiary too would be aiming at doubling revenue in this period.
Takeuchi was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of its premium multipurpose vehicle Invicto, priced Rs 24.79-28.42 lakh. The company, which is sourcing the vehicle from global alliance partner Toyota, has so far received 6,200 orders for the Invicto.
As per its growth strategy through the decade to 2031, SMC is targeting to achieve a global turnover of Rs 4.32 lakh crore, compared with Rs 2.16 lakh crore in FY22. To realise this objective, Suzuki has planned investment of Rs 2.8 lakh crore by FY31, which will be utilised for enhancing the product portfolio, bringing new technologies and setting up new manufacturing facilities. Takeuchi declined to share details of the investments earmarked specifically to grow operations in India, but said his company is looking at doubling production capacity to over 4 million units per annum in this period.
On May 12, ET reported that Maruti Suzuki was looking at investing at least Rs 45,000 crore over the next 7-8 years to enhance production capacity by 2 million units to increase local market share and boost exports. Construction is in full swing at Kharkhoda, where the first plant with capacity of 250,000 units per annum is projected to be commissioned by 2025. The facility at Kharkhoda will produce 1 million units annually when it is fully commissioned. The company additionally has received approval from its board to set up capacity for another 1 million units.Maruti Suzuki has also firmed up plans to launch half a dozen electric vehicles here next fiscal year onwards. “We are committed to bringing six EVs by FY30-31 across different segments. Besides, in our journey of vehicle decarbonisation, we will continue to deploy multiple powertrain technologies like CNG and hybrid in our products and introduce biofuels like ethanol flex fuel and biogas,” Takeuchi said.In the meantime, the automaker is trying to consolidate its presence in the fast-evolving sport utility vehicle segment in the country. Maruti Suzuki, which has launched five new products in the SUV segment, had a share of around 20% in this category at the end of last quarter (up from 8.5% in Q1FY23). Takeuchi said: “While we are at the second position in the industry (for SUVs) now, it is only a matter of time before we take the number one position in the SUV segment.”
The company outperformed the industry last quarter and expects to retain the momentum going forward. Takeuchi said: “We had also mentioned that we will grow faster than the industry in FY 23-24. The quarter one numbers aptly demonstrate our spirit. The industry grew at 9.2% and we posted growth of 12.2% in Q1.”
Maruti Suzuki is looking to recover its lost market share over the next few years. “Our intent is to get back our market share as close as possible to the 50% we have had in the past,” chairman RC Bhargava had in an earlier interaction told ET.
This would mean more than three million vehicles by 2030, when the domestic car market is projected to grow to 6-7 million units per annum, according to an industry executive. “Of the total four million units planned (by Maruti Suzuki), one million units would come in from exports and OEM (original equipment manufacturers) sales,” the executive said. “The remaining capacity is being planned in a way to enable the carmaker to get back to 50% market share.”
Maruti Suzuki sold 1.61 million vehicles in the Indian market last year and had a market share of about 41%.