In a first, Maruti crosses annual production milestone of 2 mn vehicles

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Tuesday announced it has manufactured 2 million cars in a calendar year for the first time ever. Last year, India’s largest carmaker had produced 1.934 million vehicles.

 

Of the 2 million vehicles, almost 60 per cent were manufactured in Haryana and 40 per cent in Gujarat.

 

“Baleno, Fronx, Ertiga, WagonR and Brezza were the top five manufactured vehicles during the calendar year 2024,” the company mentioned.

 

Ertiga was the 2 millionth car to be rolled out from the production line at the company’s manufacturing facility in Manesar, Haryana, it said.

 

MSIL currently operates three manufacturing facilities. Two are in Haryana -- Gurgaon and Manesar-- and one in Gujarat at Hansalpur. Together, these facilities have a combined annual production capability of 2.35 million units.

 

During the last several months, the automobile industry’s sales have largely remained lukewarm. According to SIAM data, the industry sold about 2.726 million passenger vehicles domestically in the April-November period this year, which is quite similar to 2.7 million units sold in the corresponding period last year.

 

But, expecting a better runway ahead, MSIL plans to expand its annual production capacity to 4 million units by FY31. For this, it is establishing a new greenfield manufacturing facility in Kharkhoda, Haryana.

 

Construction work at the Kharkhoda site is progressing as per plan and the first plant with an annual capacity of 250,000 units is expected to be operational in 2025.

 

Once fully operational, this plant will have a total planned capacity of 1 million units per year. Additionally, Maruti Suzuki is planning another greenfield facility with an annual capacity of 1 million units and is in the process of identifying a suitable location for this new facility. 

 

Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO, MSIL, said, “The 2 million production milestone is a testament to India’s manufacturing potential and our dedication to ‘Make in India’ initiative. This achievement reflects our commitment, alongside our supplier and dealer partners, to driving economic growth...and making India’s automobile industry self-reliant and globally competitive."