Suzuki Motor plans to spend an additional JPY100bn (US$877m) in India to help it meet rising demand for passenger vehicles in the country, according to reports in Japan.
The additional investment, at its newly-built plant in the state of Gujarat, will bring the company’s total annual production capacity in the country to 2.25m vehicles by 2020 – 30% higher than at present.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The news emerged as the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) released data showing a 7.8% rise in new vehicle sales to 319,092 units in April, compared with 295,895 units in the same month of last year.
The domestic market hit a record high of 3.73m units in 2016 and further strong growth is forecast for the next few years.
Last month, sales of passenger vehicles rose by 14.7% year on year to 277,602 units, including a 17.4% rise in passenger car sales to 190,788 units and a 13.7% rise in utility vehicle sales (including SUVs) to 70,691 units. Sales of mini-vans and MPV fell by 6.9% to 16,123 units, however.
Sales of commercial vehicles also declined last month, by almost 23% to 41,490 units, after strong sales growth in previous months ahead of the introduction of stricter emission standards.
