Production at Suzuki's second automobile plant in India commences

The new facility has started with the manufacturing of the high-selling Maruti Swift.

Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG) was founded in March 2014 with the objective to ramp up the company's production capacity given the local market growth and the expansion of the Japanese carmaker's export operations. The first plant of the subsidiary commenced operations in February 2017. It is responsible for the manufacturing of the Swift and the Baleno.

Both the plants have an annual production capacity of 250,000 units each. Along with Maruti Suzuki's production capacity of 1.5 million units, the SMG's manufacturing capabilities boost the yearly production capacity of Maruti Suzuki/Suzuki models to 2 million units. Suzuki's annual production and sales in 2018 stood at 1.87 million and 1.75 million units respectively. With the second plant up and running, Suzuki Motor Gujarat is now focussed on readying its third plant by 2020. The third facility will boost SMG's annual capacity to 7,50,000 units.

Speaking of SMG's investment into the state, a government official had earlier said -

"Gujarat is set to be the biggest hub for Suzuki, both in terms of investments and capacity."

Suzuki Motor Company is about to commence operations at a new engine and transmission plant in Gujarat. The company has said that the facility will enable it "to bear the fruit of integrated vehicle manufacturing in Gujarat", and that the state is fast becoming "more and more important as a production site for Suzuki group". SMC is even constructing an automotive lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in Hansalpur, Gujarat. Furthermore, it has announced its plans of localising other components that are required for vehicle electrification.