Maruti Suzuki Expects to Ramp up eVitara Production Ahead of the Festive Season, Compact EV in the Pipeline

Ahead of the upcoming festive season, Maruti Suzuki expects to ramp up production of its first electric vehicle, the eVitara, as supply constraints ease, even as the automaker balances domestic demand with exports and production requirements for other models. Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, said the company is currently sitting on pending bookings for the EV even though production remains constrained in the near term. “Response is very good. And in fact, we have got pending bookings. But we have got a capacity constraint at about 2,000 vehicles," Banerjee said.

eVitara Production and Backlog at Maruti's Gujarat Plant

The eVitara is being produced on a shared production line at Maruti Suzuki’s Gujarat plant, which has an annual capacity of around 1 lakh units.

The company is currently balancing production across models as well as meeting export requirements. Banerjee said production allocations are being varied month-on-month to clear the backlog and keep waiting periods under control. “As soon as that eases up, we are going to further scale it up,” he said.

Smaller EV in the pipeline

Maruti also expects its future EV portfolio to broaden beyond the eVitara. Banerjee pointed to the company’s plans to introduce a smaller electric vehicle, which he believes could help accelerate EV adoption alongside improvements in charging infrastructure. “We have a plan to launch more electric vehicles. We are going to come up with a small EV soon,” he said.

With additional EV products and charging infrastructure developing in tandem, Maruti expects the wider EV ecosystem to gradually strengthen.

India EV Market Outlook and Maruti's CBG Strategy

He expects the overall auto industry to reach around 6.1-6.3 million units by 2030, with EVs accounting for around 16-17% of the market. This would mean that more than 80% of the market would still comprise non-EV powertrains. "We are also working on compressed biogas (CBG) as part of our decarbonisation strategy, which will address the remaining 80% of the market. Banerjee said around 44% of Maruti’s sales currently come from CNG vehicles, creating a significant potential base for CBG adoption," he said.