Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), which unveiled its first electric car, e-Vitara, at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo here on Friday, is targeting becoming the largest electric car producer in India within a span of one year, said its managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Hisashi Takeuchi.
“Our plan already has three lines, with each having an annual capacity of 250,000 units. The fourth line is there to just manufacture EVs,” he told reporters during a media roundtable here. However, he did not specify the capacity of the fourth line.
While refusing to comment on the expected sales numbers of the e-Vitara, he stated: “We are targeting to become number one EV manufacturer within one year.”He stated that the e-Vitara will first be exported to a few key markets before being put on sale in India. “e-Vitara’s production is for the world. A lot of countries are waiting for this product. We need to give priority to them before launching this car in India,” Takeuchi noted.
About 99,165 electric cars were sold in India in 2024, recording 20 per cent year-on-year growth, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). Tata Motors is the leader in the electric car market with about 62 per cent share.He refused to confirm or deny if the company will be producing the cross-badged e-Vitara for Toyota. “You should ask Toyota about that,” he said.
