Rumour: Maruti Suzuki begins exporting LHD Swift from India?

The slowing down car market in India means that many automakers are turning towards exports to keep the utilization levels of their factories at decent clip. One such car maker is industry bellwether Maruti Suzuki, which has turned to exporting one of its best selling car, the Swift hatchback. A FinancialExpress report suggests that LHD (left hand drive) variants of the Swift hatchback are now being built at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar factory, and are headed towards markets in the developing world.

CKD assembled units of the Swift were already being exported from India, to countries in South East Asia such as Thailand and Malaysia. CBU exports of LHD Swifts add a new dimension to Maruti Suzuki's export strategy as the car maker was previously capable of building only right hand drive (RHD) variants of the highly popular hatchback. The LHD Swifts that Maruti Suzuki is said to be now building will head to emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Notably, Suzuki had recently announced that Maruti Suzuki would play a major role in the car maker's exports to Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. With the commencement of Swift LHD exports to these markets, the strategy appears to be playing out as envisaged. These exports are expected to allow Maruti Suzuki to make better use of its manufacturing facilities and also give the automaker significant gains in terms of profits on the back of the depreciating rupee. 

Maruti is capable of building about 17,000 units/month of the Swift from Manesar, and presently the car maker is utilizing under 80 % of this capacity by churning out 14,000 units/month. The lower production may be attributed to the overall slowdown in the Indian car market. Notably, the Swift's diesel variants, which used to command long waiting periods, are now being made available off the shelf at many locations of India.

The shift in the LHD Swift's production will happen from Suzuki's Japanese factories, which used to cater to Middle Eastern, African and Latin American markets. Europe-specific production of the Swift hatchback is expected to continue from Suzuki's Hungarian factory. Notably, rumours about Maruti Suzuki mulling an assembly facility in South Africa began doing rounds a few weeks ago. Click here to read more. 

In India, the Swift is sold in six variants, three each in petrol and diesel spec. The petrol engined model is powered by a 1.2 liter K-Series motor good for 87 PS-113 Nm while the diesel engine is a Fiat Multijet turbo unit that outputs 75 Bhp-190 Nm. Both engine options get a 5 speed manual gearbox as standard. The car's top end variants get twin airbags and ABS+EBD as standard safety features. The Swift is India's best selling B+ hatchback, a status that it has enjoyed for years.