New Suzuki plant at Gujarat to start production next year

Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), the parent company of Indo-Japanese outfit Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), is all set to commence operations at the new manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The Gujarat plant, which is the first wholly owned car plant of SMC, has been developed with a total investment of Rs. 18,500. Operations will begin at the plant from 2017.

"As planned, operations will start in 2017... Our plan is going accordingly," Suzuki Motor Corp Chairman Osamu Suzuki told reporters in Japan, according to PTI. The new plant will supply vehicles and components exclusively to MSIL, reports Business Standard.

The Gujarat factory will have a capacity to make 2,50,000 vehicles annually in the initial phase. Maruti Suzuki plans to produce 2 million vehicles per year by 2022 in India, up from the 1.4 million at present. A major chunk of the planned production is expected to move to the Gujarat plant, apart from the current Gurgaon and Manesar plants in Haryana.

Reports indicate that the Baleno hatchback and the next-generation Swift will be the key products from the new plant. Maruti Suzuki is struggling to produce the required number of Balenos from the current plants as the demand for the vehicle is huge. The hatchback already has over 1 lakh bookings in the country. In addition, SMC has said that the Baleno will be made only in India for over 100 international markets.