Suzuki has announced that it will invest ₹10,440 crores in manufacturing EVs. They have also announced that they will manufacture India’s most affordable EV. The EV manufacturing unit includes manufacturing of the battery and electric vehicles from the ground up. It is expected that the first plant will be built in 2025. Suzuki has signed an MoU with the Gujrat State to invest the said amount.
Maruti Suzuki: Future launches
Maruti Suzuki is planning to enter the mid-size SUV segment with Toyota by jointly developing their own versions of the same. The Urban Cruiser and Glanza were the first products to launch in India under the global collaboration between Maruti and Toyota. These cars didn’t feature many changes over their Maruti counterparts. Now, the mid-size SUVs will have a completely different identity with their unique design and character.
Additionally, Toyota will take charge of the project as opposed to Maruti this time around. The new SUVs will be built at Toyota’s plant in Karnataka and the platform and powertrains will be derived from Toyota’s existing portfolio as well. The Toyota SUV is codenamed D22 whereas the Maruti will be named YFG. The platform will be the modular platform named DNGA which is used by Toyota for other developing markets. In terms of design, both have a crossover-ish look to them. The Maruti YFG features a different nose and it will draw its inspiration from other Maruti cars such as the new S-Cross.
The front will feature an LED headlight setup and a grille similar to the new Baleno. Both the SUVs will have a healthy ground clearance of more than 180mm and expect usual SUV styling bits such as skid plates for both of them. The interiors will get a ton of equipment such as connected car tech, 360-degree parking camera, smartphone connectivity, cruise control, auto-folding mirrors, auto-dimming IRVM, wireless charging, auto headlamps, and automatic climate control to name a few.
Both the SUVs will draw power from a strong hybrid motor which will enable them to run on electric power alone for short distances. Expect an option of manual and automatic transmissions.