Suzuki’s Gujarat plant crosses 2 million units production milestone

The two-millionth vehicle produced was the South African-specification Baleno.

Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG), Suzuki Motor Corporation’s subsidiary for automobile production in India, has achieved cumulative automobile production of 2 million units. The company notched the production milestone on August 20, 2022.

SMG was set up in March 2014 as Suzuki’s first 100 percent Suzuki-investment automobile production company in India, aiming to secure production ability in preparation for the automobile market growth in India, as well as for expansion of exports from India. Located close to the Mundra Port, the Gujarat plant is used as the export hub for markets including Europe, Africa, and Japan.

SMG started production in February 2017 and achieved accumulated production of two million units in 5 years and 6 months, the fastest in any Suzuki production plant. The two-millionth vehicle produced was the South African-specification Baleno.

The millionth car from SMG – also a Baleno – had rolled out on October 21, 2020, in just three years and nine months since starting production in February 2017. This means the last million cars have been produced in just 21 months.

Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President of Suzuki, said “Suzuki strives to continue offering environmentally conscious compact cars, by also practicing in India the company’s philosophy of ’Smaller, Fewer, Lighter, Shorter, and Neater (Sho-Sho-Kei-Tan-Bi)’, which represents the basis of Suzuki’s manufacturing since its founding.”

As Suzuki’s global production plant, SMG produces models not only for Indian markets, but also for export. These models are exported to regions including Latin America and Africa. It is also planning to start production of BEVs in 2025, and vehicle batteries for BEVs in 2026.

The SMG plant produces multiple models. While Plant A rolls out the Baleno and OEM models, Plant B produces the Swift and the Dzire, while Plant C produces the Dzire and the Baleno. Of Maruti Suzuki India’s current pending orders of around 387,000 units, the premium Baleno hatchback currently has an order backlog of an estimated 38,000 units.

While Plant A went on steam in February 2017, Plant B kicked off operations in January 2019 followed by Plant C in April 2021. Start of production for export models began in March 2018.

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