Suzuki Motor planning 3rd car manufacturing plant in India+

HAMAMATSU, Japan, Sept. 5 Kyodo -
Suzuki Motor Corp. is planning to build a third car manufacturing plant in
India that could come on-stream as early as 2013, a move that will make India
the biggest production base for the maker of small cars, even outstripping
Japan, sources familiar with the plan said Sunday.
Suzuki, based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, is expected to focus chiefly
on producing small automobiles at the new plant in India, a rapidly growing
market where it is already the biggest player with a roughly 50 percent share.
While nearly 70 percent of its consolidated operating profit in the fiscal year
through March 2010 came from its business in India, Suzuki will likely face
stiff competition from other major global automakers that are making inroads
into the country.
The construction of the new plant in Manesar, on the outskirts of New Delhi,
will boost Suzuki's production capacity to 1.5 million cars in India, exceeding
Suzuki's current output capacity of around 1.13 million in Japan.
Suzuki has been operating a factory there since 2007 and another plant is being
built for inauguration in 2012.
Sales of new cars in India exceeded 1 million in the year from April 2004 to
March 2005 and almost doubled to 1.95 million five years later.
Osamu Suzuki, chairman and president of the company, predicts India will become
a giant auto market in the future, saying, ''Annual sales of new cars will
reach 10 million.''
Suzuki's car production exceeded 1 million in fiscal 2009, which ended in March
2010, up around 30 percent from a year earlier.
==Kyodo
2010-09-05 21:14:58