Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest car company, released its latest annual report, revealing the company’s long-term goal: by launching new models and expanding exports, the annual output in 2031 is expected to will double to nearly 4 million vehicles.
In addition, Maruti Suzuki will also achieve its overseas sales target of 800,000 vehicles in this fiscal year, which is a triple increase compared to the past.
Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki, said in a shareholder address that domestic demand combined with export demand made the company feel the need to add another 2 million vehicles to build a car factory in northern India with an annual production capacity of 1 million vehicles.
As for the electrification transformation, the company said that the current production at the factory in Gujarat, western India, is progressing smoothly. It is expected that the first pure electric model will be sold in 2024-2025, and it is expected to have 6 pure electric models in 2030-2031.
It was previously reported that the CEO of Maruti Suzuki proposed to the Indian government in July last year, hoping to express support for “green” vehicle technologies other than electric vehicles-hybrid, because “this is beneficial to the entire country”.
Earlier, Maruti Suzuki launched its first “powerful” hybrid vehicle in India, the Grand Vitara SUV, which is expected to help the company regain market share lost to rivals such as Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors. India has a tax rate of up to 43% on hybrid cars, compared with just 5% on pure electric vehicles.
However, this situation has changed slightly by 2023. As of the first half of this year, the country’s tax rate on hybrid vehicles has reached 29%, and the tax rate on pure electric vehicles is still 5%.
