Maruti Suzuki stands by its commitment of introducing an electric vehicle by the year 2020, with a flag-off given to electric vehicle field testing in India. Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan has developed the model for 50 electric vehicles, while Maruti Suzuki’s Gurugram unit in Haryana has launched these cars as the company’s commitment to the Make in India project.
CV Raman, Senior Executive Director (Engineering), Maruti Suzuki flagged-off the electric vehicles from the Gurugram facility. As stated in the company’s statement, these prototype electric vehicles have been developed on the basis of an existent model by Suzuki Japan.
The MOVE Summit held in September this year in Delhi, witnessed the announcement of Maruti Suzuki’s venture into the electric vehicle segment. The field testing of 50 mock electric vehicles across the nation, would take place before the cars are out for sale by 2020, stated Osamu Suzuki, Chairman-Suzuki Motor Corporation.
There is an increasing trend of electric vehicles would yield major opportunities for vehicle manufacturers. Moreover, the increasing demand for electric vehicles in the APEJ region significantly in China and India are providing growth opportunities for companies that foray in this segment. With Maruti’s field testing in the India, it is quite evidential how car manufacturers are leveraging the potential showcased by the electric vehicle segment.
The process of field testing electric vehicles in India would help the company in evaluating India as a market for electric vehicles. The use of electric vehicles across distinctive terrains and climatic conditions would help the company in attaining valuable insights and gauge the sustenance of electric vehicles in the Indian market. Maruti Suzuki also stated that the field testing would help gather critical inputs based on the perspective of the customers and would create a suitable and reliable electric vehicle for the customers in India.
Electric vehicles are gaining major significance owing to their sustainable benefits. The electric test vehicle are based on the Suzuki Wagon R 2018, which is not for sale in India. It is expected that this model would replace the pre-existing model which is currently on sale nation-wide. While the first version would be a powered by the traditional petrol engine of 1.0-litre, it is fairly anticipated that the first electric vehicle introduced by Maruti would be the Wagon R-based electric vehicle.