India EV production hub, plan to enter small electric cars segment: Toshihiro Suzuki

Japan's Suzuki Motor Corporation plans to enter the electric small car segment in future after gathering experience from its first EV, SUV e VITARA, which will make its global debut in India which will be the company's production hub, its Representative Director and President Toshihiro Suzuki said on Thursday.

The Japanese carmaker also believes that despite declining sales, small cars will not cease to exist in India, where its subsidiary Maruti Suzuki India is the market leader, as "one billion people" who are likely to upgrade from two-wheelers to four-wheelers in future would still need affordable cars, Suzuki told reporters here in an interaction.

Maruti Suzuki India will unveil the e VITARA on Friday at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025 being held at Bharat Mandapam.

"Although we are launching our first EV, e VITARA, my personal feeling is that the compact vehicles will be the best for EVs... (but) I think first one has learn and master properly the manufacturing techniques of EVs...So, after grasping it fully we would like to shift to EVs for small cars as well, like the others. We do have plans of having EVs in the small car segment," Suzuki said.

He was responding to a query on the EV road map for Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), which is known globally for its small cars.

Asked for a timeline for entry into small electric cars, Suzuki did not elaborate but said after launching the e VITARA the company would like to get feedback from customers on the vehicle and Maruti Suzuki will also try to understand customers' response, then only it would go ahead with plans for small electric cars.

Suzuki also said SMC's two-wheeler arm Suzuki Motorcycle India will also unveil electric scooter e Access at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo besides the e VITARA.

"These BEVs (battery electric vehicles) represent global models and India will be the production hub for these vehicles," he said, adding India's significance as an export hub for four-wheelers and two-wheelers for SMC is "increasingly becoming more important than ever before".

"We would like to export not only EVs but the other models also. We would like to develop India as an export hub for all the models," Suzuki said.

On the rationale for making India the export hub, he said, "For Suzuki, the scale merit in India is our strength, and we will fully leverage this advantage to supply high quality and appealing products across various regions, such as Europe, Japan, the Middle East and Africa, Central and South America and Asian countries."

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The e VITARA will be exported to Europe and then Japan followed by the other markets in the world.

Suzuki said Maruti Suzuki India resumed exports to Japan last year with Fronx and there is a pending order of 15,000 units and currently the model is exported to over 70 countries from India. In 2024, the company achieved exports of 3.26 lakh units, which was the highest ever irrespective of calendar or fiscal year.

Asked about the outlook for small cars, which has seen a decline in sales in India with SUVs growing faster, Suzuki said, "When we look at the market the sales of Maruti Suzuki's small cars are comparable to the SUVs which are being currently sold by other manufacturers. So it's still selling."

He further said, "I don't think small cars would cease to exist (in India). There are 1 billion people who are likely to upgrade from two-wheelers to four-wheelers in future and they would need an affordable, good car in the small segment."