Maruti plans 7-year-long drive with 10 new models

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Maruti Suzuki on Saturday said it is looking at launching 10 new models, including half a dozen electric vehicles, in the next seven years as it looks to double total sales to four million units per annum. The country’s largest carmaker, which has commenced work to double its production capacity, is in the process of setting up its largest manufacturing facility with total installed capacity of one million units at Kharkhoda, Haryana. The company board has also approved establishment of another factory with one million units capacity, the site for which is yet to be finalised.

“What is now being planned can be said to be the start of ‘Maruti 3.0 (the first being when it was a public enterprise and the second phase ending with Covid)”, Maruti Suzuki chairman R C Bhargava said in the company annual report for 2022-23. “The challenge is not only to produce four million cars a year, and possibly higher volumes in the subsequent years. We also have to sell this number of cars,” he said.

“By FY 2030-31, your company could have about 28 different models.”Maruti Suzuki currently has 18 vehicles on sale in the country. The company’s total sales last financial year rose 19% to 1.97 million units. Of this, 259,333 units were exported to 100 countries world over.

Noting that India is now the fastest-growing major economy in the world, Bhargava said “the future outlook is bright”. Maruti Suzuki, along with parent Suzuki Motor Corporation Japan, has been working to strengthen its portfolio of products to meet the changing market situation. The company has in the past one year launched four SUVs — the new Brezza, Grand Vitara, Fronx and Jimny — in the domestic market.