As a part of its 40-year celebration in India held on Sunday, Suzuki Motor Corporation has announced a slew of initiatives. The global company announced the establishment of a new company, Suzuki R&D Center in Gujrat, India. Besides, it laid the foundation stone for Suzuki Motor Gujarat electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility at Hansalpur, Gujarat and Maruti Suzuki’s vehicle manufacturing facility in Kharkhoda, Haryana.
After laying the foundation stones, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “I believe this expansion will form the basis of great future potential for Suzuki. Whenever you meet me, you present a new vision of Suzuki in India. The success of Maruti-Suzuki also signifies the strong India-Japan partnership. Today the electric vehicle market in India is growing as fast as it was not even imagined till a few years ago. One of the great features of electric vehicles is that they are silent. Be it 2 wheeler or 4 wheeler, they don’t make any noise. This silence is not only about its engineering, but it is also the beginning of a silent revolution in the country. Today people are not considering EV as an extra vehicle, they have started considering it as a major means.”
The EV sector is set to move forward with supply, demand and ecosystem strength. That is, this silent revolution is ready to make a big change in the coming days, he said.
“I am glad that Maruti-Suzuki is also working on various options like Bio-fuel, ethanol blending, Hybrid EV in this direction. I suggest that, along with this, Suzuki can also start projects related to possibilities like Compressed Bio-methane Gas. ie, CBG. Other companies in India are also doing a lot of work in this direction. I would like to have a healthy competition as well as a better environment for mutual learning. This will benefit both the country and the business,” Modi added.
An official statement from SMC said that this new company is wholly owned by Suzuki Japan and aims to strengthen its R&D competitiveness and capabilities in new fields of technologies not only for India but also for the global markets. It added that it will strengthen ties with Indian academic institutes and start-ups to develop diverse human resources.
Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister of Gujrat, Satoshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India, Jagdishbhai Ishwarbhai Vishwarkarma (Panchal), Minister of State, Government of Gujarat and the Member of Parliament C R Patil were present at the ceremony.
Manohar Lal, Chief Minister of Haryana and Dushyant Chautala, Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana, attended the ceremony virtually from Kharkhoda, Haryana.
Osamu Suzuki, Former Chairman and Toshihiro Suzuki, President, represented Suzuki Motor Corporation, while Maruti Suzuki leadership was represented by R C Bhargava, Chairman, Kenichi Ayukawa, Executive Vice Chairman and Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO.
Bhargava said, “This partnership has shown that the combination of Japanese and Indian strengths results in world-class competitiveness. We learnt that strong teamwork between employees and management is possible and creates a win-win situation for both; 98% of our workers pay income tax, and a large percentage own cars and houses. We understood the critical role of a robust and competitive supply chain. We have learnt how to make continuous improvements in quality and the importance of always focussing on the customer.”
Bhargava also announced the setting up of the Suzuki Foundation, which initially intends to engage in activities to promote more competitive manufacturing in India.
Toshihiro Suzuki, President, Suzuki Motor Corporation, said, “Over the past forty years, Maruti Suzuki has been the prominent leader in the Indian automobile sector. Maruti Suzuki is recognised as the most successful joint project between India and Japan.”
Talking about Maruti Suzuki’s increasing importance in Suzuki’s global operations, he said, “In the last fiscal, Suzuki group produced about 28 lakh automobiles all over the world. Out of those, more than 16 lakh units, or about 60 percent, were produced in India.”
Announcing the new project for Research & Development in India, Toshihiro Suzuki, said, “We aim to strengthen our R&D competitiveness and capabilities in new fields of technologies not only for India but also for the global markets.”