In a move that marks their first collaboration on environmentally friendly vehicles, Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor’s Indian unit will supply Toyota Motor with its first electric vehicle.
The electric vehicle will begin production in the spring of 2025 at Maruti Suzuki’s plant in the western Indian state of Gujarat, which is majority owned by Suzuki Motor.
Following the announcement, Maruti Suzuki shares gained approximately 4% to trade near the session high.
According to the statement, Suzuki, Toyota, and Daihatsu Motor collaborated on the EV’s platform. Suzuki developed the eco-friendly vehicle.
According to Toyota President Koji Sato, “We would like to learn from each other’s strengths, compete, and further joint efforts based on a multi-pathway approach.”
Toyota and Suzuki have previously collaborated on the development of hybrid and combustion fuel vehicles, but not electric vehicles.
Suzuki plans to invest more than a billion dollars in India, its largest market outside of Japan, as a result of this move, establishing India as an EV hub.
In India, neither Suzuki nor Toyota sell electric vehicles.
A 60-kilowatt-hour battery pack will power the EV, which will be a sport utility vehicle, and it will have a range of 500 kilometers (311 miles). India’s auto show featured a concept version of the electric vehicle last year.
A Toyota spokesperson stated that the new model will be one of ten battery-powered vehicles that the world’s largest automaker plans to introduce by 2026. The EV will not be manufactured anywhere other than at the Gujarat plant.
A little over 108,000 battery-powered electric vehicles accounted for 1.5% of Toyota’s global sales in the first nine months of the year, including the luxury Lexus brand, the company stated earlier on Wednesday.
At the Gujarat facility, Maruti Suzuki intends to add a fourth production line with a capacity of 250,000 EVs per year.
It had previously stated that it intended to supply the EV worldwide, including to the European and Japanese markets of its parent company.
