Maruti Suzuki is planning to set up an exclusive R&D center in India that will help in developing and improving its product portfolio in the country. Maruti currently sells every second car in India. According to its latest annual report, the company is looking for new land to set up its India-specific R&D center for its small cars. It will specially cater to the market demands of Indian customer. This center will also design and develop independent full bodies of its various models.
“Indian engineers will focus on the Indian market and come out with India-specific models apart from bringing customised versions of global models to India,” said Shinzo Nakanishi, chief executive officer and managing director of the company. He also stated in the annual report that the Indian market essentially needs additional R&D center to develop better cars in the country.
The company has already incorporated “One Gram, One Component” scheme in its manufacturing process which aims at reducing the weight of each component by one gram. The company is also persuading its suppliers to establish their own engineering capabilities to test and develop their components. Thus, a cumulative effort from the company as well as the auto component suppliers will definitely benefit the end product.
