[Venkatesh]

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The new EV will be released first in India, Suzuki's stronghold, to be followed by launches in Japan and Europe.



Suzuki all-electric compact model for the Indian customers is likely to be priced around Rs 10 lakh after government subsidies.

Suzuki has a market share of about 50% in India. By adding EVs to its lineup, the automaker hopes to maintain its competitive edge in the market.

Japanese compact car maker Suzuki Motor will release its first all-electric vehicle by fiscal 2025, Nikkei has learned, a move that is likely to accelerate an EV shift in the category of compact cars.

The first EV model will be made available for 1.5 million yen ($13,700) or less, after government subsidies are taken into account. With Suzuki's entry, all major Japanese automakers are set to enter the EV market.

The company also has battery production plans under way. A battery plant Suzuki is building in India with Denso, a car parts maker, and Toshiba is expected to open in September to produce lithium ion batteries for Suzuki's hybrid cars.

Source

[livelyyoungman]

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[abhishek46]

We have seen loads of pictures of the WagonR EV.

What happened to that?

It is strange, that even after such extensive testing, MSIL requires a full 4 years to launch the product in the market.

One probable reason could be, MSIL might be trying to set-up large scale battery manufacturing in the country, before releasing the products.
However, doing so within 4 years, is easier said than done.

[TrackDay]

A welcome move, but four years is a long time. Someone else might crack that price range and have the first mover advantage. Also hope they stick to the 10 Lakh price after four years. Maruti Suzuki truly has an advantage with its wide network of showrooms and service centers. They can be utilized as charging stations which will be a huge bonus.

[LeoRBK]

Govt. policy should look at allowing import of BEV's to speed up EV adoption. There are some very good EVs being developed in China(as he sets his patriotism hat aside) and if introduced in India could speed up adoption of technology.
Unfortunately traditional car majors(European, American and japanese) have been slowing down EV adoption. Some of the startups in China are not carrying the baggage of keeping shareholders happy and have been very aggressive with products.

There is a strong argument for many of us Indians to upgrade from two wheelers to EV cars rather than fossil fuel cars to enable adoption of modern and clean technology.

[theAutomaniac]

4 years is a damn long time! Also, what happened to the WagonR EV? It looked like it was production ready in the last set of spy shots! Then why the delay?

Though I'm happy that India will be the first market for this electric car, I hope Maruti will launch a few proper hybrids in India in next 2-3 years in the form of the next gen Ciaz, S-Cross, Brezza etc. with PHEV systems so as to smoothen the transition to EVs.

Though I'm surprised on why is Maruti not pressurizing their bosses in Japan to speed up the electrification process as Tata, Mahindra and MG etc are already betting big on EVs!

Come on Maruti, where's the aggressive Maruti we used to see 5-6 years ago?

[LeoRBK]

Originally Posted by theAutomaniac

4 years is a damn long time! Also, what happened to the WagonR EV? It looked like it was production ready in the last set of spy shots! Then why the delay?

Though I'm happy that India will be the first market for this electric car, I hope Maruti will launch a few proper hybrids in India in next 2-3 years in the form of the next gen Ciaz, S-Cross, Brezza etc. with PHEV systems so as to smoothen the transition to EVs.

Though I'm surprised on why is Maruti not pressurizing their bosses in Japan to speed up the electrification process as Tata, Mahindra and MG etc are already betting big on EVs!

Come on Maruti, where's the aggressive Maruti we used to see 5-6 years ago?

Has there been any communication on phase out plans in India for fossil fuel vehicles?
That to me is when manufacturers come out with aggressive plans.

[sramanat]

That appears to be a long time and gives the impression that volunteer employees are using their free time to develop the car. It is not like the car is going to have some original research going on and going by the targeted price, it will be an existing car (WagonR?) with ICE parts replaced by EV parts. Likely they are just in the drawing board stage and the execs are going to meet in Q4 2021 and decide on team composition... even if they form a team in Q1 2022, an aggressive schedule would have the prototype ready by Q2 2023, production readiness by Q4 2023.

[sunnsood]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Suzuki all-electric compact model for the Indian customers is likely to be priced around Rs 10 lakh after government subsidies.

With reducing battery cost, even Nexon Ev will be below 10 lakhs by that time.

I hope Reliance opens their gigafactory and build an electric car just like Jio phone and Save this nation from the Suzuki and copy paste Totota

With Tesla showing how to build gigafactory under a year looks far more achievable for Reliance.

[Raghuwire]

Wow. 2025. Countries have gone to moon faster than this. Absolutely pathetic from India s largest PV manufacturer. The dominance of Suzuki continues to hurt India, no R&D investments in India, no pressure on safer cars, no EV switch and we will as usual be late to party in another booming tech space. Maruti continues to be a relic abusing its market position. But for sure it's domination is under threat. My family in Goa has traditionally been a MS loyalist. Not a single non MS car in our extended family in last 15 years, until 2021. A Nexon EV and a Harrier breached the tin can wall. If all is well maybe a Kushaq will soon replace one more Maruti!
In pic: A recent family event shows this domination. From Alto 800 to Baleno, 6 MS cars in Pic along with my Harrier

[audioholic]

I was recently thinking about the fact that after the launch of XL6, Maruti has gone completely relaxed about new launches. We havent seen much of an action lately and I assumed this was because we could shortly have some electric offering. But this makes me feel like They gave up diesel and are struggling to get it back, powertrain is getting boring by the day. Not much of a thought about a better hybrid system even with the Toyota collaboration. And now they want to get an electric vehicle in 2025, what a way to be the market leader. I hope thats a joke and not the actual plan and we would see at least one EV and one hybrid option by 2022.

[LeoRBK]

Originally Posted by audioholic

I was recently thinking about the fact that after the launch of XL6, Maruti has gone completely relaxed about new launches. We havent seen much of an action lately and I assumed this was because we could shortly have some electric offering. But this makes me feel like They gave up diesel and are struggling to get it back, powertrain is getting boring by the day. Not much of a thought about a better hybrid system even with the Toyota collaboration. And now they want to get an electric vehicle in 2025, what a way to be the market leader. I hope thats a joke and not the actual plan and we would see at least one EV and one hybrid option by 2022.

On your remark about Toyota collaboration, rebadging is the way forward for Suzuki (at least in EU).
Here are two hybrid products which Suzuki introduced in UK recently which are rebadged Toyota's (namely Auris/corolla hatch and RAV4)
https://cars.suzuki.co.uk/new-cars/swace/
https://cars.suzuki.co.uk/new-cars/across/

Similarly for India as I am sure you will be aware, seems like Toyota will rebadge Suzuki products.

What can only be speculation on my part, I think EV development may follow the same suit? i.e. EV based on Suzuki platforms in India and Toyota platforms for EU.

On hybrid technology, I have come to realize Mild Hybrid (Suzuki tech) and Self Charging Hybrid (Toyota tech) is eyewash in that they do not reduce emissions and have been rightly stricken off the low emission technology list by global organizations.

The only feasible technology to bring in would be PHEV and BEV. I am not sure of the reasons but it appears PHEV is not feasible for small cars (maybe engineering factors or maybe costs reasons). I have not seen any example of small PHEVs in EU region. That leads me to believe BEVs is the only feasible tech for the segment where volume sales for Suzuki are.

So Suzuki is taking the right steps to introducing BEV in a Wagon-R. Why should they be aggressive with its development? What is the incentive for them? There is no competition, no new players will bring in BEVs in volume sales segments in the near future. There are no government deadlines on phasing out fossil fuel cars they need to worry about.

The resulting product will be at a price point that will only make sense for EV enthusiasts to buy, so they are not looking at volume sales in immediate future. To bring the costs closer to the current crop of fossil fuel cars localization of the supply chain needs to happen, but who has set up the roadmap for doing it? I do not think Suzuki has the resources to do it. This has to be driven by an EV policy and investments at scale to incentivize entrepreneurs to set up shop.

[Raghu M]

The Japanese (Toyota & Suzuki) are almost spot on on the release years. I don't think an EV would make any sense earlier. MSIL always has it's strategy perfect. I don't see EVs having great infra until the next 5 years. When the infra gets better, mass brands will have demand. MSIL will make a killing. They will test the car and will ensure they do best at what they do better than other brands - reliability.

[padmrajravi]

Suzuki has been a follower rather than an innovator lately. They have found success even with that approach because of their brand value and strong dealership presence. I think those two factors will pull them through in case of electric cars too.

By 2025 , Tata would have probably established the EV infrastructure through Tata Power. And then when the EV adoption is at an all time high, Maruti will join the band wagon. This had happened in case of diesel small cars, compact sedans and compact SUVs.

[hrman]

Looks like its a joke. Ola is here which will start rolling out electric scooters within 4 months of starting building a new factory.
And here we have the largest car seller in the country launching their EV cars as soon as 2025.
Really? Doesn't this look like ignorance/arrogance at its best?

Now dont jump on me that manufacturing cars and two wheelers are different. I am aware. But seeing this lethargy from MSIL makes me wonder. Will it really take so many years for some form of charging infrastructure to be built?