As technology revolutionizes personal transportation, Suzuki Motor Corp seems to be gearing up to tap the evolving market for futuristic travel solutions such as air taxis and autonomous vehicles.
As part of a corporate presentation, the company said it will venture into new businesses outside its traditional areas of focus – such as ‘service mobility’ and energy.
Within the service sector, it will focus on public and work transportation, including three-seater air mobility solutions and automatic vehicles capable of platooning in dedicated lanes.
On the work mobility front, it plans to develop a small e-mobility platform business, and work on bogie type software defined vehicles.
The company, however, acknowledged that it may not be able to develop the technologies required for such ventures inhouse: Instead, these will be realised through collaborations.
“In order to implement the infrastructure mobility that Suzuki aims for, two corporate venture capitals (Suzuki Global Ventures and Next Bharat Ventures) with different missions are established and promoted,” the Japanese car and two-wheeler maker said.
Suzuki Global Ventures–run in cooperation with World Innovation Lab, a leading venture capital firm based in Japan and the US–was established to accelerate the acquisition of technologies and knowledge in new fields that are difficult to achieve through continuous evolution from existing fields, the company said in a presentation.
Meanwhile, Next Bharat Ventures, set up in 2024, works towards developing and supporting social entrepreneurs working to solve social issues in India.
The company expects sales revenue of 50 billion yen from the new businesses by financial year 2031 (Japanese year FY30), and expects them to start contributing in terms of profitability by FY41.
Besides hi-tech public transport, the company will also venture into new areas related to sustainability.
The company plans to install and operate a biogas plant to produce biogas from cow dung/paddy straw and use the produced gas as fuel for CNG vehicles. The project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the energy self-sufficiency and circular economy of rural India, the Japanese carmaker said. Currently, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor, has installed a pilot plant for biogas generation and purification at its Manesar plant in Haryana.
Further, the company is working on a storage business that contributes to efficient use of renewable energy in India and Japan, especially in rural areas, Suzuki Motor said. The company plans to use the common module that can be used for both mobility and stationary storage jointly developed with ELIIY Power.