| The Maruti board, which met today in Hamamatsu, Japan, approved Maruti Suzuki Automobiles India Ltd as the name for the new car manufacturing company. As decided earlier, Maruti will hold 70 per cent equity in this company and Suzuki Motor Corporation 30 per cent. |
| The investment in the car project will be Rs 1,524.2 crore. The plant will have an initial capacity of 100,000 units, with scope to scale it up to 250,000. The new car manufacturing plant will begin commercial production by the end of 2006. |
| The board also cleared Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd (earlier called Suzuki Metal India Ltd) as the name for the new engine and transmission facility. Suzuki Motor Corporation holds 51 per cent in Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd, while Maruti holds 49 per cent. |
| In addition to manufacturing diesel engines for cars, as decided earlier, this facility will also manufacture petrol engines and transmission assemblies. The total plant capacity will be 300,000 diesel engine per annum to be developed in phases. |
| Investment in this facility will be Rs 1,747 crore. |
| The initial annual capacity of this facility will be 100,000 diesel engines, 20,000 petrol engines and 140,000 transmission assemblies. A Maruti release said that it would be gradually expanded in line with the market demand. This facility will begin commercial production by the end of 2006. |
| With these two projects under way, Maruti, which is already well-entrenched in the petrol segment in the passenger cars market, proposes to play a significant role in the diesel segment too. The current market share of diesel passenger vehicles in India is around 23 per cent. |
| Industry sources have projected that this may reach up to 45 per cent in the next seven to eight year time frame. Maruti officials had earlier said the new facility would help it ramp up its market share in the diesel segment too. |
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