The Hindu : Business : Suzuki's engine plant in Haryana

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004

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Business

Suzuki's engine plant in Haryana

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 13. Bullish on the Indian automobile market, Japanese giant Suzuki Motor Corp. today decided to enter the domestic burgeoning motorcycle segment next year besides investing over Rs. 1,000 crores in Maruti to manufacture diesel engines in the country and set up a new car plant.

"A `Project Team' is going to execute comprehensive preparatory work related to these three new ventures," a Suzuki statement made available to PTI said.

"A new company, Suzuki Engineering India (tentatively named), plans to construct a plant with production capacity of one lakh diesel engines a year in Haryana," SMC Director (Overseas Automobile Planning Division), Kazumi Matsunaga, said.

The engines will be made for Maruti's vehicles. "We will supply the engines to the new factory as well as other car manufacturers in India," a spokesman said.

"The construction of the second plant is necessary to increase output in India... where demand for passenger cars is growing rapidly," Suzuki Chairman, Osamu Suzuki, said in a statement issued in Tokyo.

For setting up a new car assembly unit, a joint venture, Suzuki Maruti India, is being formed, which will construct a new plant, with a capacity of 2.50 lakh units, scheduled to begin operation in early 2007. Suzuki Motorcycle India would be the motorcycle venture of Suzuki in India, Mr. Matsunaga said.

The diesel plant, slated to start operation by the end of 2006, will make 1.3 litre, four cylinder engines. Suzuki has entered into an agreement with Italy's Fiat Auto and Adam Opel of Germany.

Suzuki Metal India, which now makes aluminium castings here, will be merged with Suzuki Engineering India.

The total investment for the firm's upcoming plant in Haryana would be announced later, he said.

At present, Maruti manufactures ten models at its existing plant in Gurgaon, which has a production capacity of five lakh units. — PTI

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