Suzuki Worried Of Indian Government’s Push Towards Electric Mobility

The Indian market makes up for about 50 per cent of the manufacturer’s total global sales

It’s no secret that the Indian government wants to turn the automobile scene in the country completely electric by the year 2030. Now, the CEO of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Toshihiro Suzuki, has voiced his concerns about this paradigm shift. Suzuki Motor Corporation is the parent company of Maruti Suzuki and controls about 50 per cent of the total passenger car market in the country.

In a recent interview, the CEO said, “As the industry shifts towards EVs (electric vehicles), when it comes to India, our volumes are so large that I worry that we could be caught flat-footed if there was a sudden shift towards electrification.”

So what could be troubling Toshihiro Suzuki? We think it could be the fact that India contributes to about 50 per cent of the Japanese manufacturer’s total global sales volume without having a single electric vehicle in its Indian product portfolio. Six of the top 10 selling cars in India are manufactured by Maruti Suzuki, which includes cars like the Dzire, Baleno, Alto, etc.

When you consider the current state of affairs when it comes to infrastructure to support electric vehicles, achieving 100 per cent electric mobility by 2030 seems like building a castle in the air. We don’t even have enough charging stations to support the current breed of EVs, which mainly comprises of two- and three-wheelers.

Other Indian manufacturers like Mahindra and Tata have already started preparing themselves for the shift. Mahindra has a few electric vehicles like the e2o Plus and the e-Verito in its lineup, while Tata along with Mahindra has bagged an order from the government agency, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), to supply 10,000 EVs for government use in two phases; 500 in the first and the rest in the second phase.

Earlier this year, Suzuki Motor Corporation began construction of India’s first lithium-ion battery plant in collaboration with Toshiba and Denso in Gujarat. This step will help the manufacturer to take on the challenges that the Indian automotive industry is likely to witness in the coming years.

Also Read: Electric Cars In India: Present, Problems And Future