India is at the crossroad of a big change in the mobility market as concerns over climate change grow, the focus has also shifted towards an environment friendly solution that’s in sync with changing trend in the auto industry.
Maruti Suzuki is the front runner. Currently, the carmaker accounts for about half of all cars sold in India. Maruti Suzuki, with stock price of over Rs 9,300, is only behind market heavyweights like Reliance Industries, TCS, HDFC Bank and ITC when it comes to market capitalization.
Maruti Suzuki, which revolutionised the auto industry in India in 80s, has big plans to retain its dominance over the Indian auto market. The company is gearing up to launch its first electric car in India by 2020, besides working on hybrid and premium category vehicles. The company would gradually proceed towards hybrid and micro-hybrid cars in India.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman RC Bhargava last month had said affordability was a major challenge that EVs would face and for them to be successful, focus had to be on manufacturing of batteries and other components within the country to bring down cost. A step in this direction is the setting up of the lithium ion battery plant in Gujarat. Suzuki also signed a partnership with Toyota in November 2017 to work in the areas of new technology and component sharing.