Maruti Suzuki is planning an affordable hybrid rollout

New Delhi Maruti Suzuki India Limited’s Japanese parent company, Suzuki Motor Company, is working on developing cost-effective technologies that will make extremely expensive hybrid cars affordable for buyers in India.

India’s largest carmaker will also seriously consider bringing to India the plug-in hybrid that Suzuki sells in Europe and the US. proposal and we should really consider it seriously,” said Hisahi Takeuchi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki.

Maruti Suzuki is expecting policy decisions, including possible reduction in taxes on hybrid vehicles, to boost market growth in the technology compared to battery electric vehicles for the Indian market. Hybrid vehicles are powered by both conventional internal combustion engines and electric ones. Motors that can be used for short distances and recharge when the vehicle is moving. There is no need to plug in the charger to power these cars. In plug-in hybrids, as the name suggests, the battery can be recharged like electric vehicles.

Globally, EV sales are beginning to decline as buyers looking to move on from conventional models seek the convenience of hybrid cars rather than EVs. However, hybrids are expensive.

Hybrid engines can cost up to 20% more than their traditional fossil fuel-powered counterparts. Maruti Suzuki on Friday reported a 48% rise in net profit to ₹3,877.8 crore for the January-March quarter, up 20% year-on-year. Yearly increase in revenue ₹1,40,933 crore. However, sales of its CNG models declined by 400 basis points to 26.9% of total sales compared to 30.8% in the previous three months, adversely impacting Maruti’s operating performance during the last quarter of the 2023-24 financial year. Fell.

“The market for hybrids is, to a certain extent, determined by the price of the cars. And as we know the duty on hybrid is 43%,” said RC Bhargava, President, Maruti Suzuki.

“We will know after the elections are over and the GST Council considers the rates… We don’t know what will be the final view of the GST Council and what will be the view of the (new) government,” Bhargava said. “So hybrid And how much and how fast EVs expand, we will know only in the future.” He asked, should the GST Council decide to re-look at its taxes on hybrid vehicles.

Mint had earlier this week reported that hybrid vehicles will have to bear the cess burden for a longer time, as the government will consider rationalizing the cess on hybrids as part of a major change in the GST structure.

As far as electric vehicles are concerned, Maruti will export the cars it produces for Suzuki to Europe before launching the model in India.

“We will start production (of EVs) in this financial year. We have a commitment to export our first batch of cars to Europe. So I think the domestic market may not see any reasonable numbers within this financial year,” Bhargava said. However, the Maruti chairman was bullish on this optimism for India’s passenger vehicle industry.

“The car industry today is not expecting double-digit growth in FY2015… but I think if the conditions after the elections turn out to be the way I think, I think Maruti Suzuki will at least be able to get The situation may be, if not more than double digit sales growth in the coming year, but very close to double digit growth.”