Maruti chairman Bhargava hints at “record” car production in FY23

Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava, on the eve of the inauguration of Suzuki’s new  EV battery facility at Hansalpur Gujarat and the Kharkhoda facility in Haryana said that the Indian car industry is all set to have a record production year in the current fiscal as a result of improvements in semiconductor supplies and receding fears around covid.

To boost its supply chain, Bhargava had indicated that the firm currently has joint venture agreements with more than 20 suppliers and is open to entering into new joint ventures and partnerships with existing and new component makers.  These partnerships will be based on their ability to generate ” considerable value” to secure its future supply chain network and maintain its leadership position in the Indian auto Industry.”

“The production of passenger cars in the industry will be at all-time peak and I’m talking about the car Industry as a whole and not of Maruti alone,” Bhargava added.

India’s passenger car sales which touched a record 3.37 million in 2018-19 crossed the three million mark since the pandemic in fiscal 2022.

Speaking to our sister publication, Autocar India,  in a video interview the chairman said that India has two markets. One is the ‘Bharat Market’ or the small car market and the other is ‘India market’ that loves its technology and SUVs.

“We’ll cater to both markets. I want Maruti to continue this leadership position,” Bhargava said speaking about Suzuki’s 40 years of operations in the country.

Speaking about the private sector, he lauded Prime Minister Modi’s policies to have ease of doing business given the topmost priority and the government divesting itself areas it has limited expertise such as aviation with the privatization of Air India.

Bhargava also welcomed the government’s insolvency and bankruptcy code, GST implementation, and the lowering corporate taxes which  he said “ will be crucial to the growth of the country economic output as we move to 2025 as the year where India’s passenger car electric revolution will start to kick in and India strives to become carbon-neutral by embracing clean fuel technologies such as e20 blending, hybrids, CNG and other eco-friendly fuels”.

Bhargava also urged the government to incentivise all clean technologies like hybrids and ethanol that it is investing heavily in, and not just EVs as both will add up giving the country a larger eco-friendly driving footprint.