Maruti Suzuki begins production of eVITARA, to export across 100 countries

Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday commenced production of its first Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), the eVITARA, at its Gujarat plant, for sales in over 100 countries.

The automaker said the eVITARA is expected to become the largest mass-produced and exported electric vehicle from India, combining Indian and Japanese technologies. “The eVITARA is built on a newly designed EV-only platform and is not an internal combustion engine vehicle converted to EV, as such conversions often involve design compromises,” the company said in a stock exchange filing.

The first batch of eVITARA units will be shipped from Pipavav Port to European markets, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, France, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Austria, and Belgium.

Maruti Suzuki’s Fronx SUV hits 500,000 production milestone in just over two years Meanwhile, parent company Suzuki Group has also started local manufacturing of its first lithium-ion battery cells and electrodes for strong hybrid electric vehicles.

Maruti Suzuki’s subsidiary, TDS Lithium-Ion Battery Gujarat Private Limited (TDSG), is working towards achieving electrode-level localization of lithium-ion battery cells to help make India self-reliant in battery manufacturing for hybrid EVs. These lithium-ion batteries are used in the hybrid system of the popular SUV model, the Grand Vitara.

Indian auto giants rev up for battle as Tesla enters domestic market

Suzuki Group has invested over Rs 1,00,000 crore, which is expected to create more than 11,00,000 direct jobs across the value chain, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) added.

Currently, the domestic passenger EV market is dominated by three major players—Tata Motors (55% market share) and Hyundai Motor India (15% market share). Mahindra and MG Motor trail as distant third players in the PV EV category. Maruti Suzuki India, the largest player in the overall passenger vehicle segment, had not entered the EV space until now.

Maruti Suzuki increases advertising spends by 11.4% to Rs 1,742.6 cr in FY25

MSI cut its maiden e-Vitara's production plans from 26,500 units to 8,200 units in the April and September period due to a supply crisis. Additionally, the company has also scaled back its lineup of EV launches to 4 instead of six by the end of 2030. As per the media reports, the automaker has indicated that it will launch the Fronx EV and the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga in the upcoming years.