Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country's largest passenger car maker, is set to establish two vehicle manufacturing facilities in Gujarat, in order to ramp its production in the domestic market. The company's upcoming Gujarat plants are anticipated to be built on a similar layout of its existing Gurgaon-based units.
Expressing his views regarding the company's production plans in the Gujarat state, R. C. Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India, was quoted as saying, “We are looking for a second location and the land is being acquired currently. We are saturated in Haryana with no scope of expansion. We would have a similar two-location model in Gujarat that would be developed and expanded in accordance with market demand.”
As per reports, Osamu Suzuki, Chairman, Suzuki Motor Corp. (SMC), is coming to India on a two day trip on January 24, 2013, in order to finalise blueprints of MSIL's upcoming Gujarat manufacturing plants. Maruti Suzuki is the largest subsidiary of Japanese multinational automobile giant, SMC, in the world. Accordingly, Indian passenger car market is of great significance to the Japanese firm for its global profit margins and turnout.
In the first phase, Maruti Suzuki will make an investment of around Rs. 4,000 crore on its proposed Gujarat plants, with the amount being used for land acquisition and construction of the unit. The upcoming facilities are believed to be able to churn out an annual production yield of 2.5 lakh vehicles, in its initial years. Further, Maruti Suzuki will use its Gujarat units for both domestic market and overseas export purposes. At present, MSIL operates five vehicle assembly plants at two separate locations in Manesar and Gurgaon, Haryana.
Speaking about the latest development from the company's stable, a top Maruti Suzuki executive was quoted as saying, “To avoid further complexities, the company has decided to acquire more land on its own. The acquisition would be done directly from land owners keeping in mind its future needs. Land price have already started moving north in Gujarat.”
