By Meenakshi Maidas and Nandan Mandayam
(Reuters) -India’s top carmaker Maruti Suzuki plans to invest up to 90 billion rupees ($1 billion) in the current fiscal year, it said on Friday, as it gears up to launch its first electric vehicle, boost exports and expand its existing car plant.
Maruti, majority-owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor, will begin production of its first-ever electric vehicle, the ‘e-Vitara’, before September-end, Chairman R.C. Bhargava said in an earnings call.
“I think the annual production… will be somewhere near 70,000 electric vehicles, the bulk of which will be exported,” Bhargava said, adding that it wants to be India’s top producer of EVs this year with plans to export it to Japan and Europe.
With the ‘e-Vitara,’ Maruti seeks to enter a segment dominated by rival Tata Motors. EVs formed just 2.5% of India’s 4.3 million car sales last fiscal year but the government wants to grow this to 30% by 2030 and is offering incentives to carmakers to build them locally.
The company is already India’s biggest exporter of cars, and the e-Vitara key will be key to further boost its overseas shipments, which it plans to grow by 20% in the current fiscal year.
Exports are turning increasingly important for Maruti at a time when domestic sales momentum in the world’s third-largest car market is stalling, and the carmaker plans to continue with expansion plans at its factory in northern India.
India’s car sales by manufacturers to dealers grew at a slower pace for a second straight year in fiscal 2025, and manufacturers expect sales for the current year to grow by just 1%-2%.
Later this year, Maruti will launch a new combustion engine SUV, Bhargava said, as the company looks to win back market share lost to smaller rivals who were quicker to capture Indians’ rising affinity towards SUVs.
Maruti will also fit all its cars with six airbags, he said, amid a bigger push towards safety.
Bhargava said the company would remain unaffected by tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration as it does not export its cars to the country.
Earlier in the day, Maruti reported a surprise fall in fourth-quarter profit as higher discounts and expenses weighed on earnings. Its shares closed about 2% lower.
(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Varun H K and Leroy Leo)
