Maruti to Export New E-Vitara Car to Japan, Europe

Ahmedabad: Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest car maker, on Tuesday forayed into electrical car race with Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolling out its E-Vitara, Suzuki's first made-in-India in India for the world battery electric car.

Modi also flagged off production of Li-ion Battery Cell and Electrode for strong hybrid electric vehicles for sustainable green mobility at Suzuki's biggest plant at Hansalpur in Gujarat.

"Suzuki will invest over Rs 70,000 crore in India over the next 5-6 years ", said Toshihiro Suzuki, president at Suzuki Motor Corporation.

He said the automaker would use a multipowertrain strategy including Electric, Strong Hybrid, ethanol flex fuel and compressed biogas to achieve carbon neutrality and climate change goals.

Officials said the Gujarat facility, serving customers across India and global markets, will shortly become one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturing hubs, with a planned capacity of 1 million units.

"We chose this facility to manufacture the e-VITARA, our first BEV and make it a global production hub for this model," Suzuki said.

"We will export this 'Made-in-India BEV” to over 100 countries, including Japan and Europe, " he said without specifying dates.

Suzuki noted that the firm's major milestone was the start of production of India’s first

lithium-ion battery and cell with electrode level localization, which are used in Maruti Suzuki hybrid vehicles.

He said that these are being manufactured at the Toshiba Denso Suzuki plant in Gujarat.

"With only raw material and some semiconductor parts coming from Japan, this is a big salute to Atma-nir-bhar Bharat," Suzuki noted.