By Supriya Singh and Tsuyoshi Inajima
India’s car market is on track to reach 20 million units by 2047, helped by promising growth in battery electric vehicles, Suzuki Motor Corp Executive Vice President Kenichi Ayukawa said.
First, the goal is for Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the Japanese carmaker’s subsidiary, to grab 50 per cent market share by 2030, from around 40 per cent for the fiscal year through March. “We’re confident that the Indian market will expand in the mid to long term,” Ayukawa said in an interview.
The emergence of India as an economic powerhouse and its expanding middle class present a clear opportunity for the Hamamatsu-based manufacturer, which has been active in the South Asian nation since 1983 and has found success as the top-selling automaker with models such as Swift and Brezza. In order to keep its lead, Suzuki plans to introduce its first-ever EV in India, as well as in Europe, next year after exhibiting its mass production model at the upcoming auto expo in India in January, according to Ayukawa.
“We’ll develop products, invest and expand our network,” Ayukawa said.
A total of 4.2 million passenger vehicles were sold in India in the fiscal year ended in March, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. To put that number — and Ayukawa’s prediction — in perspective, 16 million cars and trucks were sold in the US last year and 17.9 million were sold across Europe. China is the world’s largest automobile market with 30 million unit sales, according to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers.
Suzuki shares, which are up 21 per cent this year on top of a 41 per cent gain last year, were mostly unchanged in trading in Tokyo on Monday.
Although Suzuki’s planned eVX is a premium electric vehicle, the carmaker will also roll out more affordable and compact models with lighter batteries, according to Ayukawa. Suzuki is targeting 15 per cent of its sales in India to be EVs by 2030, he added.
“India faces environmental issues so I think EVs will grow to an extent,” Ayukawa said. Although people are paying more for cars more than they used to, “India remains a price-conscious market,” he added.
Even so, car buyers are starting to show greater appetite for crossovers and sport-utility vehicles, according to Ayukawa. Competition is tougher in that segment because it’s a “strong area for Tata and Mahindra,” he said.
Tata Motors Ltd., India’s third-biggest carmaker, has already taken the lead in with fully-electric variants of its popular Tiago and Nexon models, and expects its EV business to reach profitability by early 2026.
Suzuki will focus on models that can be used for everyday needs, which will require development of new types of batteries, according to Ayukawa. In the future, Suzuki may embark on domestic production of cells in the next 5 to 10 years, he added.
As for collaboration in India with Toyota Motor Corp., which forged a strategic partnership with Suzuki in 2019 through a stake of about 5%, Suzuki will likely focus on smaller cars while Toyota will take the lead on bigger models, Ayukawa said. Toyota’s EV technology will also bolster Suzuki’s product development, he added.
“We will learn basic know-how from Toyota and gradually make it our own,” Ayukawa said.
Suzuki also sees potential in cars powered by compressed natural gas, which is cheaper than gasoline in India, according to Ayukawa. Maruti Suzuki sold 483,000 CNG cars in the latest fiscal period, up 47% from a year earlier.
Although Suzuki plans to start operating four plants that convert methane from cow manure into fuel for cars that currently run on CNG, there are challenges ahead, such as monetizing the organic fertilizer that remains after manufacturing the fuel at a large scale, Ayukawa said.