Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. said that its joint venture partnership with Toshiba Corp. and Denso Corp. will start making lithium ion batteries for India and international markets from 2020.
The move comes as a shot in the arm for Suzuki’s local unit and India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, which is considered to be a laggard in green technology space when compared with its rivals in the market. Globally, Suzuki also does not have effective technology in the sphere and sought partnerships, first with Volkswagen AG; and now Toshiba and Denso, to beef up its presence in the space. Suzuki also has an agreement with Toyota Motor Corp. to jointly develop future technologies.
The lithium battery plant of Suzuki in Gujarat would see an investment of Rs1,151 crore ($180 million). The battery plant will come up at the Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG) campus in Hansalpur, where land has been allocated to the project inside the vendor park. SMG is a unit of Suzuki Motor and has a contract manufacturing agreement with Maruti, which buys SMG’s produce at cost price.
Osamu Suzuki, chairman of Suzuki, said that the joint venture’s production would be directed towards hybrid car requirements. Production capacity details were not disclosed.
