Monday, February 10, 2020
By Kamal Swami
Maruti Suzuki India Limited To Concentrate On Electric Vehicles
With almost all leading car manufacturers working on developing the electric vehicles, the country’s leading carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited has not revealed its plans in this direction. The car enthusiasts in India are keen to know about the availability of electric vehicles by the Indo-Japanese car makers. However, back in 2018, the carmaker initiated the trial of 50 electric vehicles at its Gurugram facility, the prototype of these vehicles was similar to the WagonR hatchback. Recently, the company showcased, the Futuro-e concept vehicle at the Indian Auto Expo 2020 and received an encouraging response from the viewers.
However, now the Indian buyers can expect something extraordinary from the company and it is for sure that it would be in the form of electric vehicles, although it is believed to take some time. Because, commenting about the launch of EVs in India, the company’s MD and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa, said, “There will be an electric car in India in the future for sure. We have to prepare for that but first, we have to develop the technology”.
Moving ahead he said, “An EV is different from petrol and diesel vehicles due to the need for charging stations. This is not only a company but a social issue,” In his words, the company is introducing entry and middle-level cars in India, to meet the requirements of the Indian buyers. As far as technology for electric vehicles is concerned it is a different technology, and satisfying the needs of customers is different.
According to him, the company is working on new technologies, which are cleaner than petrol and diesel. Besides, this the company has also introduced the Mission Green Million for introducing the vehicles that are eco-friendly and fuel-efficient.
In the meantime, he said that the situation of market slowdown will change and the situation will change eventually. In his words, “We think the market will grow in the long term. It was a struggle in the short term for the industry due to various reasons. When the Bharat Stage-IV to BS-VI transition is done, I expect the industry to gradually go in a good direction. The point is of the economy of the country. If it becomes better, we can expect it to accelerate the industry from the weakness that is going on,”.
