New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India is looking at boosting its production and targets producing 20 lakh units in the current financial year, as the industry is gradually getting over the shortage of semiconductors that had affected the industry.
In his address to shareholders in the company's annual report for 2021-22, the company Chairman RC Bhargava said the upcoming mid-sized SUV Grand Vitara will play a key role in the challenge to touch 20 lakh units.
In 2021-22, total sales of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) rose to 16.52 lakh units, an increase of 13.4 percent. . It had lost out on sales in the first quarter of the fiscal due to the pandemic and production being affected by the shortage of semiconductors, mainly for domestic models, Bhargava wrote.
"The number of unmet bookings with the company at the end of the year rose to about 2.7 lakhs," he said, adding MSIL's market share declined to 43.4 per cent from nearly 50 per cent as it lost some opportunity in the domestic market.
As per Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data, domestic passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market stood at 30,69,499 units in 2021-22, as compared to 27,11,457 units in 2020-21.
On the current year production and sales outlook, he said, "The vehicle production would increase as the situation regarding the availability of semiconductors has improved," though he admitted that 2 million units is a challenging target.
Bhargava further said the launch of Grand Vitara, which will be manufactured by Toyota at its Karnataka factory, "is one of the reasons why we are expecting to increase production and challenge 2 million units".
The new SUV will also come with Toyota's strong hybrid technology, which "is the first-time cars with this technology would be manufactured in India", he claimed.
Bhargava added that the core segment of the company, non-premium hatchbacks, did have a slight decline of 5 per cent in FY 22 due to rising costs as companred to 2020-21, but the company aims to enhance Maruti Suzuki's SUV portfolio as a necessary step to offset the decline.
"On the other hand, the SUV sector continued to grow. We did not have enough models in this segment to compete effectively, though the situation has now become much better with the launch of the remodelled Brezza and the global launch of Grand Vitara," Bhargava said.
On electric vehicles (EVs), he said the Gujarat plant of Suzuki Motor Corporation will start production from 2024-25 and will be sold by MSIL.
(PTI News)