Maruti Suzuki is ramping up its product portfolio and manufacturing capacity as part of its broader strategy to sustain leadership in the Indian passenger vehicle market. According to Chairman R.C. Bhargava, the company is set to launch a new SUV later this year and has earmarked a capital expenditure of Rs 8,000–9,000 crore for FY26.
“We will also be launching one more SUV later this year," Bhargava said during the company’s FY25 earnings conference.
While Bhargava did not share details on the SUV, Autocar Professional has learned that it is a larger sibling based on the Grand Vitara platform, internally codenamed Y17. It is likely to be offered with a hybrid powertrain and will be shared with Toyota Kirloskar.
This comes alongside the rollout of Maruti’s first electric vehicle, whose domestic sales will begin before September. Together, these launches aim to strengthen Maruti’s presence in high-growth and future-ready segments.
Regarding investment, Bhargava confirmed the company will continue with capital deployment this fiscal year.
“Our capital budget this year will be around Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000 crore," he said.
Much of this outlay is directed toward Maruti’s upcoming plant at Kharkhoda in Haryana, which is expected to be central to the company’s future growth. The first unit of the Kharkhoda plant has already been commissioned, while construction of the second unit is underway.
“As you know, work on the second unit at Kharkhoda is now ongoing. The first unit is already commissioned. The work on the second unit will continue,” Bhargava said.
However, the timeline for commissioning the second line will depend on market conditions.
“We have to see the market situation to decide exactly when we want to commission it,” he added.
This capacity expansion underscores Maruti Suzuki’s preparation to meet both domestic and export demand, particularly as it steps into EV manufacturing and aims to reduce dealership inventory imbalances with better retail data integration.
“We will shift all our recording, reporting, and planning on the basis of retail data… so that there is no surplus of vehicles which don’t sell and which lead to big discounts,” Bhargava said.
With multiple launches, an expanding manufacturing footprint, and a digitised supply-demand planning framework, Maruti Suzuki aims to stay resilient amid a maturing domestic market and growing competitive pressure.