Suzuki plans to invest $770 million
Japan’s largest mini-car maker Suzuki Motor is preparing for an
image makeover in its biggest overseas market, India .Suzuki has drawn up plans to invest over $770 million (Rs 3,530.45 crore) in India top set up
new production facilities, besides developing a new
line-up of mid-sized
sedans to take on rivals Honda and Toyota.
The fresh investment in developing a sedan line-up is aimed at changing its image as a
small carmaker among Indian car buyers. We are today known as a small carmaker .Such a strong image is good, but it can also work to our disadvantage at times.We are trying to break that image with a slew of new sedans, Suzuki Motor senior managing director Shinzo Nakanishi said the sidelines of the 39th Tokyo Motor Show.
A major chunk of the fresh investments—around $470 million (Rs 2,154.95 crore) –will be ploughed into Suzuki’s new JV company Maruti Suzuki India, while around $300 million (Rs 1,375.5 crore) will be invested in Maruti Udyog. Our intention is to retain our share of the passenger car market in India and build the capability to produce one million units a year by 2010.These investments are aimed at achieving this target, said Nakanishi, who is also chairman of Maruti Udyog.
The Japanese major has decided to look at midsized sedans as the new target segment for growth. We do not expect the small car to decline but we surely see the sedans driving growth in the future, Nakanishi said. A sedan version of Swift is also on the cards to taken on growing competition from Tata Indigo, he added.
The new sedans—which are currently being developed—will be pitted against the likes of Honda City and Toyota Corolla .Though Nakanishi refused to divulge details on the fate of its existing sedans—Esteem and Baleno—he hinted at possible phase-outs stating that the company has decided to restrict its product line-up to nine or ten cars.