Suzuki announces new research and development centre in India
On the occasion of its 40th anniversary in India as Maruti Suzuki, Suzuki Motor Corporation announced the establishment of a global research and development centre in India. The announcement came at an event presided over by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, where the foundation stone of Suzuki Motor Gujarat electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility at Hansalpur, Gujarat was laid. Also inaugurated was Maruti Suzuki's new manufacturing facility in Kharkhoda, Haryana.
Suzuki research and development centre in India
The facility, Suzuki R&D Center India Private Limited (SRDI), is wholly owned by Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan. This is an arrangement similar to its engine and battery manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The carmaker is looking to put in place a framework to strengthen its R&D competitiveness and capabilities with this facility. The talent employed here will be picked from within the country and Suzuki will associate with Indian academic institutes and start-ups to develop these resources.
The establishment of this facility will also see much of the research and development work for Suzuki's offerings in India and globally being carried out here. Currently, much of the development work for new models for India is a joint effort between Suzuki's Indian and Japanese R and D teams. That could increasingly shift towards India. Further, models developed jointly with Toyota are largely the work of both firms' Japanese teams. Those projects could also now see increasing inputs from Suzuki's Indian teams.
Suzuki battery manufacturing facility, production capacity
The new lithium-ion battery facility, set up jointly with Toshiba and Denso, is being set up near the existing Maruti Suzuki facility in Hansalpur, Gujarat. The facility will also add a production line, taking Maruti Suzuki India's total production capacity to 1 million units. With this, the company aims to reach 2 million units in car sales by 2020, and 2.5 million within three years after that with the new Haryana facility.
Also read,
Maruti Suzuki: 40 behind, 40 ahead
