Maruti aims to produce 10 mn cars in next 6-7 yrs

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India today said it expects to achieve the feat of producing a crore vehicle for the second time in the next 6-7 years with the opening of its two new plants at Manesar.

The company is likely to cross the milestone of producing the first one crore vehicles since its inception on March 15, nearly 27 years since it first rolled out M800 from Gurgaon.

"We are setting up two new plants at Manesar. The way the market is moving, the next one crore production mark will happen much faster, say in the next 6-7 years... It looks that by 2017-18, we will achieve it," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R C Bhargava said.

The company had announced an investment of over Rs 3,625 crore to set up two new plants with 2.5 lakh annual capacities each inside the Manesar facility.

At present, MSI, which is 54.2% owned by Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), has an annual capacity of 8.5 lakh units at its Gurgaon plant, while Manesar can produce 3.5 lakh units annually, with the overall capacity totalling to 12 lakh units per year.

The carmaker had said it ramped up production by about 10% to over 1.1 lakh units every month from October 2010, taking its total annual output to 14 lakh units for 2011-12.

Since it rolled out the first M800 on December 14, 1983, the company is set to cross one crore production mark next week.

"Completing one crore production mark is simply a milestone... Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi handing over the first car is perhaps the most memorable moment," Bhargava, who has been associated with the once government-controlled company since the beginning, said.

He said producing 10 lakh vehicles every year is even a bigger milestone for the company.

The company took 22 years to produce the first 50 lakh units, while the remaining took within less than six years.

SMC has made Rs 9,000 crore investment in new facilities during 2005-10. In addition, the company is investing Rs 2,500 crore for its K-series engine plant and setting up a dedicated R&D facility at Rohtak.