Maruti to shift vehicle production to Manesar

Maruti Suzuki India is to make a production shift at its Gurgaon Plant 1 and Manesar plants. Following the recent visit of O Suzuki, chairman and CEO, Suzuki Motor Corporation to attend the Maruti Suzuki annual general meeting, the carmaker has confirmed that there will be a phased shift of facilities from Gurgaon Plant I to the Manesar facility.

While the Gurgaon unit will see a gradual shift to an engine assembly and machining operation, automobile assembly will be integrated at the Manesar plant which was set up in 2007. This change will see production volumes increase at Manesar, which currently rolls out the A-star, Swift, Dzire and the SX4.

The Gurgaon facility, which produces the Ritz, Alto, Versa, Maruti 800, Omni and the Gypsy, has a production capacity of around 250,000 cars. It was constructed in the early 1970s and later refurbished and modified before Maruti Udyog began production in 1983. The company’s two other plants in Gurgaon, with a combined annual production capacity of 4,50,000 cars, were commissioned in 1994 and 1999 respectively. Meanwhile, with volumes increasing at Manesar, Maruti Suzuki is working with the Haryana government to facilitate speedy completion of the railway siding at the Manesar plant which will help expedite transport of export cars to the Mundra Port terminal in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki has said that it expects to emerge as an even stronger company by the time the economic slowdown ends. Speaking at the AGM, chairman R C Bhargava said, “The recession has taught us many lessons and also confirmed the validity of our strategies. As a consequence, following the policies based on a good value system, we have weathered the recession much better than others.”

On developing its R&D capability at Maruti Suzuki he said, “With strong support from Suzuki Motor Corporation, the company is on course to develop its ability to design compact cars. Maruti Suzuki is also building a modern R&D facility, complete with test tracks and crash test facilities at Rohtak. The company is rapidly increasing its engineering manpower, simultaneously persuading all its suppliers to also create the ability to design and develop new products in India, and to continuously upgrade component quality.”