Suzuki Motor Corporation, the parent company of Maruti, has announced an investment of ₹ 10,440 crore in India to strengthen its EV gameplan.
The investment was confirmed through a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ signed between Suzuki Motor Corporation and the Gujarat government at the India-Japan Economic Forum in New Delhi, recently.
The investment will help fund the development of an all-new mid-size electric SUV that will be built at Suzuki’s Gujarat plant, among other future products. As part of the MoU, Suzuki will also build a new factory for the manufacturing of EV batteries near its existing plant in Gujarat. It aims for the new factory to be up and running by 2025.
The first product of this investment will roll out by 2025. This made-in-India electric SUV will be sold as a Maruti as well as a Toyota model in India and international markets. Maruti’s version of the EV has been codenamed YY8, which will be based on the 27PL platform — a skateboard architecture meant for small electric vehicles, derived from Toyota’s 40PL global platform.
The YY8 and its sister Toyota model will be global products, and exports will be a major consideration for Suzuki and Toyota. As such, these models are likely to make their global debut in Europe around October 2024, before launching in India in the first half of 2025.
An annual production volume of around 1,25,000 cars for both Maruti Suzuki and Toyota is being planned, of which 60,000 is for the Indian market, 40,000 for Europe and around 25,000 for Japan.
