Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), which unveiled its first electric car, e-Vitara, at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo here on Friday, is targeting becoming the largest electric car producer in India within a span of one year, said its managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Hisashi Takeuchi.
“Our plan already has three lines, with each having an annual capacity of 250,000 units. The fourth line is there to just manufacture EVs,” he told reporters during a media roundtable here. However, he did not specify the capacity of the fourth line.
While refusing to comment on the expected sales numbers of the e-Vitara, he stated: “We are targeting to become number one EV manufacturer within one year.”
He stated that the e-Vitara will first be exported to a few key markets before being put on sale in India. “e-Vitara’s production is for the world. A lot of countries are waiting for this product. We need to give priority to them before launching this car in India,” Takeuchi noted.
About 99,165 electric cars were sold in India in 2024, recording 20 per cent year-on-year growth, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). Tata Motors is the leader in the electric car market with about 62 per cent share.
He refused to confirm or deny if the company will be producing the cross-badged e-Vitara for Toyota. “You should ask Toyota about that,” he said.
MSIL is India’s largest carmaker with about 41 per cent share in the domestic passenger vehicle market. Takeuchi mentioned that the company has already invested more than Rs 2,100 crore in the manufacturing of the e-Vitara in India. This also includes the expense behind the dedicated EV production line.
“Every manufacturer is thinking about how to bring up (boost) the EV market in India. We think customers’ anxiety and pain points should be removed. In India, the customer has range anxiety and is worried about the lack of charging infrastructure. The third worry is about the residual value of the car,” he stated.
Addressing these concerns, Maruti’s e-Vitara will be available with a range of more than 500 kilometres, which is “good enough” for the customer.
He stated that the company will install fast chargers at its dealerships in the top 100 cities across the country in the first phase and then expand further. “The idea is that, within these cities, every 5 to 10 kilometres, a customer finds a charging point by MSIL,” he noted.
“To further ensure peace of mind for our customers, we are preparing over 1,500 EV-enabled service workshops in over 1,000 cities. These workshops will have specially trained manpower and special equipment to provide all EV-related support, including charging,” he added. MSIL has a total of 4,500 service workshops across India.
He mentioned that to boost the EV market in India, the aforementioned pain points have to be removed, and the choices have to increase.
“Right now, the first set of EV customers will prefer this product, the e-Vitara, which is a premium electric SUV. However, there are many other segments, whether smaller like hatchbacks or bigger like MPVs, which need electric products. To further increase the sales of EVs in India, the customers need to be provided with choices,” he stated.
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