Date:12/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/12/stories/2007121262492000.htm

Business

Suzuki Motor to roll out global car from India

Special Correspondent

‘A-Star’ will be displayed at the New Delhi Auto Expo

Company plans to bring another global model
To invest
Rs. 10,000 crore
on expansion

— PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM

SHOWCASING CONCEPT CAR: Osamu Suzuki (centre), Chairman, Suzuki Motor Corporation, with Jagdish Khattar (left), Managing Director, Maruti Udyog, and S. Nakanishi, Chairman, MSIL, showing a photograph of the concept car at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: Focusing on the importance given to its Indian operations, Japanese car major Suzuki Motor Corporation on Tuesday said it will roll out its fifth global product from the country. Meant mainly for export, the new product, ‘A-Star’, as a concept car will be showcased at the forthcoming auto expo here and its production will start by the autumn of 2008 when export to Europe will commence.

“The A-Star is to be produced only in India, not even in Japan. This will be displayed at the Auto Expo in Delhi (in January) and it will come under SMC’s ‘family theme’,” SMC Chairman, Osamu Suzuki, said while addressing reporters here.

He said the new compact car will be powered by a Euro-V compliant one litre petrol engine to be produced by Maruti Suzuki India (MSI). The manual transmission for the car will be manufactured by Suzuki Powertrain India, MSI’s subsidiary.

Apart from the A-Star, SMC, Mr. Suzuki said, was planning to bring another global model ‘Splash’ to India. Splash will be powered by 1.2 litre petrol and diesel engines. “The A-Star is meant mainly for export to Europe although we will sell it in India as well while the Splash manufactured in India will be meant only for domestic requirements,” he said.

Even as he refused to spell out any timeframe for the launch of these vehicles in India, he, however, said Splash would be launched in Europe in “the spring of 2008”.

According to the company’s plans, Maruti Suzuki India will be manufacturing about 1.5 lakh units of the A-Star from its Manesar (Haryana) facility. It has been expanding the capacity of the new facility to three lakh units by 2010.

The company had stated that it would be investing about Rs. 10,000 crore on capacity expansion, research and development and revving up marketing activities. MSI will also be setting up a separate research and development facility at its Manesar plant spread over 500 acres to bring the product development activities in India on a par with these in SMC’s Japan facility.Earlier, at a FICCI function, Mr. Suzuki virtually ruled out the possibility of the company trying its hand at Rs. 1 lakh car saying if a compromise on quality and safety norms was made for lower pricing, it would not be shouldering “the responsibility of an auto manufacturer”.