Suzuki to start e Vitara production from India in Spring 2025

Suzuki Motor Corp, which unveiled its first production-ready electric vehicle e Vitara, plans to start production of the vehicle from Maruti Suzuki India’s plant in Gujarat in March-April. Sales of e Vitara are expected to commence around 2025 summer in Europe, India, and Japan.

“This is a very important milestone for us as one of the efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. (P)roduction (of e Vitara) will begin in spring 2025 in India at Suzuki Motor Gujarat (…)” Suzuki Motor Representative Director and President, Toshihiro Suzuki, said while unveiling the automaker's first electric vehicle in Milan, Italy today.

The e VITARA, a mid-size SUV, is based on the concept model “eVX” that was showcased at the Auto Expo held in India in January 2023, and at the Japan Mobility Show in October last year.

Europe, India and Japan are Suzuki Motor’s key business regions under its growth strategy for the financial year 2030.

The automaker, which clocked 5.4 trillion yen in revenue with 3.2 million cars and 1.9 million motorcycles in fiscal 2023, has set a revenue target of 7 trillion yen by the end of end of this decade.

“In Europe and Japan, we aim to create new technologies and products, and will continue to refine them. In India, we aim to meet the expectations of both customers and society by establishing roots that are large, deep, and wide-reaching,” Toshihiro Suzuki said.

India is the largest market for the Japan’s fifth-biggest carmaker, with the country accounting for over 61% of total output in the previous financial year and 57% of its total global sales.

The existing Gujarat plant, which can produce 750,000 cars per annum across three production lines, was recently acquired by Maruti Suzuki from its parent company Suzuki Motor Corp. Maruti Suzuki has also announced its plans to almost double production capacity to 4 million cars by the end of this decade.

The Indian subsidiary currently has an annual production capacity of 2.35 million cars across three plants – two in Haryana (Gurugram and Manesar) and the Gujarat plant. In addition, the automaker is setting up two greenfield plants in Gujarat and Haryana.

The new plant in Gujarat will have a capacity of one million units, while the plant in Haryana (Sonipat) will have an initial capacity of 250,000 units, and will be boosted to produce one million units eventually.

Meanwhile, the automaker is betting on a multi-fuel strategy for future growth.

“We will invest not only in Battery EVs but also hybrids and ICEs that run on fuels such as CNG, biofuel, and ethanol, and will provide the right solutions in the right places,” Toshihiro Suzuki said.