Maruti planning to ramp-up Manesar facility

Maruti Suzuki is set for expansion. Again. Maruti Suzuki India’s board have raised a proposal to increase the capacity at its Manesar plant to 1.3milion units over a period of two years. This is aimed at maintaining Maruti’s 50% share of the market.

Market watchers expect Maruti to expect up to Rs 1,800 crore if the board give the green light. In that case, this would become Maruti’s second biggest investment since the Rs 2,500 crore investment for setting up a state of the art R&D facility at Rohtak in Haryana. Maruti’s spokesperson declined to comment on this issue. However, Maruti’s MD S Nakanishi has indicated that subect to approval from the board, Maruti was targetting an annual capacity of 3 lakh cars to cater to the fast growing Indian market. Exports also grew 135% during the April-December period year on year. Mr Nakanishi added that the target was to export 1.3 lakh cars this fiscal.

The Indian passenger vehicle market is expected to hit 30 lakh vehicles by 2016 from the current 18 lakh, in which case Maruti needs to sell 15 lakh vehicles to maintain its 50% market share and dominance. A capacity addition at Manesar would ease the pressure on Maruti’s Gurgaon facility. So do you think Maruti can maintain its market share despite heavy competition in the small car segment? Put in your comments below.

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