Suzuki Motorcycle India has planned to invest Rs 600 crore in order to set up a new two-wheeler manufacturing facility in India. While the brand has yet to finalise where its second plant in India will be built, the senior management has intimated that it will be in northern India.
Speaking to our sister publication Autocar Professional on the sidelines of the Burgman Street 125cc scooter launch in New Delhi today, Suzuki Motorcycle India managing director Satoshi Uchida said, “We have planned investments to the tune of about Rs 600 crore for the second production plant. The second facility will add production capacity of up to one million units in the future.”
Adding to that, Sajeev Rajasekharan, executive vice-president, Suzuki Motorcycle India said, “We are looking for sites in the North India region. We are scouting for sites in Delhi NCR, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. It is yet to be finalised. Considering our volumes, it would make more sense to have the second plant in the close proximity of our current plant. This will also support the existing vendor base, which is spread in and around the northern region. However, once our annual volumes move closer to two million units, we may look at the third facility in the southern region in future.”
Aggressive growth roadmap for India market
Suzuki has increased the existing production capacity at its Gurgaon plant after making some significant investments. According to the senior management, the Gurgaon facility’s production capacity will be sufficient for the brand’s aggressive roadmap until 2020, which is when it plans to achieve production volumes of one million units per year.
The Gurgaon plant has an annual manufacturing capacity of 540,000 units and currently operates in two shifts. It will soon see the addition of a third shift and possibly a new assembly line for exports in order to boost the total production capacity.
“With certain investments in the Gurgaon plant, our production capacity is about 750,000 lakh units per annum for this year. This includes exports too. But this will be utilising 100 percent capacity at the present plant. It will suffice until 2020,” revealed Rajasekharan.
Suzuki Motorcycle India has laid down a clear growth roadmap for our market, which is expected to see the company achieve its production target of 7 lakh units in FY2019. The Japanese bikemaker has already achieved its previous targets of 3.5 lakh units and 5 lakh units in FY2017 and FY2018, respectively.
Suzuki Motorcycle’s success in the domestic market can be directly attributed to demand for the Access 125 scooter and its 155cc Gixxer motorcycles (the naked model and the faired SF). While the Access 125 has helped it become the leader in the 125cc scooter segment, the Gixxer has given the company a strong foothold in the 150cc motorcycle segment.
Vishal Venugopal
Ved Janve
Azaman Chothia
