Suzuki to invest $970 mn in 2nd production unit in Gujarat

The Dollar Business Bureau

Japanese auto major, Suzuki Motor Corp, will invest 100 billion yen (around $970.97 million) to set up a second production line for vehicles, even before the operations have started at its new manufacturing plant in Gujarat, according to a report in Nikkei business daily on Friday.

The second production line could start in early 2019 and will have the capacity to manufacture the same volume per year as the first line, which is scheduled to start in 2017, said the report.

With the addition of production lines, Suzuki is likely to increase its production capacity to 2 million cars per annum, it added.

The new unit in Gujarat will have the production of models like Baleno hatchback, with vehicles for shipment also being considered as Gujarat has major ports, Nikkei stated.

Maruti Suzuki India, the unit of Suzuki, had allocated an investment of around Rs.18,500 crore ($2.77 billion) for the plant in Gujarat in December 2015, to establish six production lines that are capable of manufacturing 250,000 vehicles each, according to Reuters’ report in December.

Suzuki Motor Corp said the sales of vehicles in India, its largest market, grew 5.2% in the period of April-June.