Maruti Suzuki will kick off exports of electric vehicles to Japan and Europe in 2024, ahead of its India launch in 2025. Speaking at the 10th global summit of Vibrant Gujarat, Maruti Suzuki's corporate affairs ED, Rahul Bharti, said, “Electrification's time has come, and it will happen. It is not just EV penetration in India, we will take EVs to the global arena this year itself. We will start exports of EVs to countries like Europe and Japan.”
This comes hot on the heels of Maruti Suzuki announcing an investment of Rs 3,200 crore in an electric vehicle manufacturing line in Gujarat on Wednesday. While Bharti did not share any numbers, our sister publication Autocar Professional has learnt that almost 70-80 percent of the upcoming eVX midsize SUV will be exported.
Maruti lithium-ion battery exports
There has been a renewed impetus from Maruti Suzuki on exporting from India; it had already announced plans to triple its exports to 7.5 lakh units by the end of the decade. With an eye on localisation, the company is already exporting advanced lithium-ion cells and battery packs to developed markets for hybrid vehicles.
“We are already manufacturing India’s first lithium-ion cells and battery pack in Gujarat, and we are exporting it to advanced countries in Europe. We will be exporting almost Rs 750 crore worth of advanced lithium-ion cells and battery packs in FY24,” added Bharti.
He does admit that the Indian market faces challenges of defining battery chemistry, economies of scale and hurdles of charging infrastructure, but he believes that all these challenges have answers. “It is the answers we should be concerned about; they could be in technology, innovation, business model change and government intervention,” added Bharti.
(With inputs from Shahkar Abidi)
Hormazd Sorabjee
Sahil Kukreja
