'Possible that an Indian can lead Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Japan,' says Suzuki Motor President

As India continues to drive the growth of the Japanese auto giant Suzuki Motor Corp, its President Toshihiro Suzuki said Maruti Suzuki India Ltd may see an Indian as its managing director and president.

Addressing the media ahead of Bharat Mobility Show 2025, Suzuki said: “It is quite possible that an Indian can become the MD and president of Maruti Suzuki India. On the other hand, an Indian can become the president of Suzuki Japan also." He said nationality is not a factor that is taken into consideration in such cases. 

India is the largest market for Suzuki Motor, and Maruti Suzuki has been India's most prominent car maker for several decades.

However, Maruti Suzuki’s MD and CEO have been a Japanese national for a long time. Jagdish Khattar, who passed the baton in 2007, was the last Indian managing director of Maruti Suzuki.

As Suzuki enters its next phase of investment under Suzuki 3.0, which calls for an investment of over Rs 1 lakh crore, the company is re-imagining India’s production footprint and its roles and responsibility as an export cum development hub. 

Maruti Suzuki accounted for over 61% of the Japanese automaker’s total output in the financial year 2024. Around 57% of its total global sales came from India.

The Indian unit is expanding its production capacity by almost doubling the current manufacturing to 4 million cars by the end of this decade.

In a recent investor presentation, Suzuki Motor noted that producing 4 million cars in India will be a turning point for the Japanese company. 

“We should take the production capacity of 4 million units as a turning point and must transform our operations to optimize our organization, facilities, and work processes,” the company said.

 “While solidifying our foundation in India, we will also explore applying similar approaches in Africa going forward.”

Moreover, Suzuki Motor is now positioning India as its export hub by leveraging the scale it has achieved here. Its first electric vehicle, eVitara, will first be exported to Europe and Japan before the company aggressively sells the model here.

“We would like to develop India as an export hub for all the models. India will also be the export hub for hybrid vehicles,” Toshihiro Suzuki said.