Suzuki wants to plug into Toyota’s EV know-how

Suzuki plans to learn from partner Toyota about applying electric vehicle (EV) technology to build small electric vehicles, its president Toshihiro Suzuki said at India’s biennial car show on Wednesday. 

Suzuki said it is learning EV and other technologies from its Japanese partner and aims to use that to develop cars that are more in line with its own products.

“How to introduce this EV technology on small cars is something we need to work upon and share with Toyota,” he said.

When asked if the company would look at launching EVs built on petrol engine platforms, Suzuki said the company needs to develop a ground-up EV.

Electrification is seen as a challenge for Suzuki’s Indian unit, Maruti Suzuki, that wants New Delhi to incentivise all cleaner technologies, including hybrid and ethanol, and not just EVs — which it expects to launch only in 2025.

“When it comes to India, EV cannot be the only solution. Other car manufacturers in India have launched EVs ahead of Maruti. But the solution cannot be one,” said Suzuki. Alternative fuels such as ethanol and technologies like hybrid are also suited to the Indian market and customer needs.

Suzuki has said it will spend more than 104-billion rupees (about R21.6bn) on its electrification push in India, including in a battery plant for EVs that will start in 2026, making it one of its biggest battery and EV investments globally.

The company already has a joint venture with Japan’s Denso and Toshiba to build lithium-ion batteries for hybrid cars for use in India and exports.

It showcased an electric concept SUV — the all-wheel drive eVX — which it plans to bring to market in 2025.

India is pushing car makers to build more electric cars by offering companies billions of dollars in incentives. Electric cars account for less 1% of total vehicle sales in India but the government wants to increase that to 30% by 2030.

Reuters