Maruti Suzuki sets 2 million production target

According to company chairman RC Bhargava, the largest automaker in the country – Maruti Suzuki India will raise its output and intends to build 20 lakh cars during the current fiscal year. The senior executive of the company stated in his speech to shareholders in the company’s annual report for 2021–2022 that the task of reaching 20 lakh units would be greatly aided by the introduction of the mid-sized SUV Grand Vitara.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) had a 13.4% growth in overall sales in 2021–2022 to reach 16.52 lakh units. However due to the pandemic and manufacturing being hampered by the lack of semiconductors, it had suffered sales losses in the first quarter of the fiscal year, mostly for local models, Bhargava stated. According to him, the business had roughly 2.7 lakh unfulfilled bookings at the end of the year, which caused MSIL’s market share to drop from nearly 50% to 43.4% as a result of missed opportunities in the domestic market.

Bhargava during the meeting said,

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The vehicle production would increase as the situation regarding the availability of semiconductors has improved. Your company has also made further improvisations to enhance production. I am exhorting our team to reach 2 million units, though doing that remains a challenge. One of the reasons we are looking to expand production and challenge 2 million vehicles is the debut of Grand Vitara, which will be produced by Toyota at its Karnataka facility.

In addition, the new SUV would have Toyota’s powerful hybrid technology, which, according to Bhargava, “is the first time automobiles with this technology will be made in India.” Furthermore in order to counteract the drop in sales of non-premium hatchbacks, the company’s primary product line, which fell by 5% in FY22 owing to increased expenses as compared to 2020-2021 and were lower by 29% as against 2018-19, it is imperative that Maruti Suzuki expand its SUV lineup.

MSIL chief also added,

On the other hand, the SUV sector continued to grow. We did not have enough models in this segment to compete effectively, though the situation has now become much better with the launch of the remodelled Brezza and the global launch of Grand Vitara,” He further divulged, “We are hopeful that MSIL’s market share will rapidly increase in the SUV segment.

He also touched on the subject of electric cars and said,

As I had mentioned last year, it will take time for EVs to become the major product in all the segments of the car market. In the period till this change happens, the object of carbon footprint reduction would be facilitated by incentivising the use of CNG, ethanol, biogas and strong hybrids in addition to EVs,

Bhargava also said that MSIL has finalised the site acquisition for its new production plant in Kharkhoda in Haryana, where it is investing Rs 11,000 crore in the first phase, in order to satisfy future needs. “We are giving high priority to expanding production facilities at this site so as to meet future demands. The first unit is planned to be commissioned in 2025 and the second about a year later,” he added.

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