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Suzuki mulls moving small car design unit from Japan to India |
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Business
Standard
Mumbai: As part of its long term strategy, Suzuki Motor Corporation
(SMC) is considering moving out its small-car design centre to India.
However, at present, no time line has been charted out.
The Japanese giant is already investing Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 crore in
its research and development (R&D) centre in India. Maruti Suzuki India
(MSIL) will roll out a car completely made in India in the next three to
four years, which will encompass all the major requirements, including
design and engineering architecture, engine development, and the
manufacturing process.
MSIL is aiming to double the number of engineers from 480 to 1,000 by
2010. Most of the Indian engineers are currently undergoing training at
Suzukis Japanese facility and will eventually be posted in India.
A senior executive of MSIL, when asked whether the company would shift
its small-car design centre to India, said: This could be a possibility
in the future but the plan has not been finalised yet. After all, India
is a booming small-car market and the styling and design of cars here is
similar to the requirements of the European market.
Citing the A-Stars example, he said the car would makes its debut in
India in the later part of FY09 and be exported to Europe.
I V Rao, managing executive officer (engineering), MSIL, said, We are
working towards a fully India-built car, the first from MSIL, for the
world market in the next three or four years. We are currently putting
the required infrastructure in place for all the new models.
Although the recently unveiled A-Star compact car owed its success to
Indian engineers and designers, the car still had a large content of
Japanese technology, he said. Similarly, the Swift hatchback, which is
also called the world car, was developed with the help of Indian
engineers based in Japan.
The company is currently sourcing expertise and guidance from SMC for
various compact car and other projects. The dependence will be gradually
reduced over the next few years when the companys Indian subsidiary will
have fully-independent operations.
According to sources, the company is in the process of identifying land
near its Manesar facility to set up the R&D unit. The unit will house
various testing and simulation facilities in addition to a world class
testing track.
The share of small cars in the Maruti portfolio in the future will
remain the same as it has been in the previous years. This has been the
growth-driving segment and we would want it remain like that, Rao said.
Of the current portfolio of 10 cars, more than half are small cars. |
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