Country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India plans to build electric vehicles for India (EVs) as the government strives to electrify all new vehicles in the country by 2030, though it didn't give a timeline for the process. R.C. Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India said there was still no clear roadmap on how the government aims to achieve its target of going all electric by 2030, as a lot depends on it. Sales of EVs in India remain negligible due to the high cost of batteries which make the vehicles expensive and out of reach for many buyers.
Bhargava said, "We will make electric vehicles, but won't be able to give a definite timeline on when it will happen."
When asked whether Maruti has the technology to develop batteries for EVs, Bhargava said, "Maruti is a Suzuki's partner in India. So when we plan to move forward on this, we will source the technology from them. We are very clear on that front."
In September this year, Suzuki announced that its lithium-ion battery manufacturing JV with Toshiba and Denso will invest ₹ 1151 crore to set up its production facilities in the country. The batteries developed from this JV will be used in the Maruti Suzuki models.
Bhargava is, however, optimistic with government's plan to go all-electric in the next decade, and hopes to be a market leader even in the electric vehicle segment. He said, "When we go ahead with the plan, we intend to be market leaders."
Maruti Suzuki on Friday reported financial results for the second quarter of this fiscal (2017-18), registering a 3.4 per cent hike in its net profit at ₹ 2484.3 crore in Q2 of the financial year. The company sold a total of 492,118 units during this period, witnessing a growth of 17.6 per cent from the previous fiscal. Maruti's domestic sales stood at 457,401 units, recording a growth of 19.4 per cent, while its exports were at 34,717 units.
