Suzuki Motor plans to spend JPY188bn ($US1.6bn) by the end of 2011 on a third domestic car plant as it has decided to add the production of diesel engines there, the automaker was reported to have said on Tuesday.


Suzuki initially planned to make petrol engines at the plant in Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo, but decided to make diesel engines as well because of robust demand, particularly in Europe, Suzuki spokesman Shigeyuki Yamamura told Reuters.


Suzuki plans to soon export 1.3-litre diesel engines produced in India to Europe and wants to make two-litre motors in Japan for export globally, the spokesman said, according to the news agency.