Maruti to ramp-up exports; targets shipments worth Rs 20,000 cr in 3 years

Maruti Suzuki is aiming to export vehicles and components worth up to Rs 20,000 crore in the next three years. The company is planning to leverage the global resources of its Japanese parent — Suzuki Motors — and its partner, Toyota Motor, to increase its overseas shipments, said a report in the Economic Times. Maruti's exports accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the total exports from India.

According to the report, for Toyota and Suzuki, India is likely to become a key sourcing hub for not just vehicles, but also for components like lithium-ion cells for electric vehicles.

The report further added that the export turnover of Rs 20,000 crore would mean that the shipments must be more than 350,000 units, given an average of Rs 5.5 lakh per vehicle. By extension, it would also be nearly half of India's passenger vehicle exports projected for fiscal 2025.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki's total sales increase 26% to 165,173 units in August

With more than 238,000 of the 570,000 units exported from India in fiscal 2022, Maruti Suzuki overtook Hyundai Motor India as the foremost passenger vehicle exporter. Revenue for Maruti from exports in the last fiscal year was Rs 12,000 crore. This was more than double its average export earnings between FY16 and FY21. Back then, Maruti shipped an average 100,000 vehicles a year.

India's export market grew 42 per cent in FY22 and Maruti Suzuki's overseas volume zoomed 147 per cent. The Dzire compact sedan became Maruti's highest exported vehicle, followed by Baleno and Swift hatchbacks.

Executive director Rahul Bharti said, "Our agility helped to tap the market where peers are struggling to ramp up volume after the first wave of Covid".

Earlier this month, Senior Executive Director of Maruti Suzuki Shashank Srivastava said that Maruti will consider the SUV segment as a key area to lift its overall market share in the country. Presently, the company's overall market share is under 45 per cent and the target is to lift it to 50 per cent.

Srivastava said "SUV is the largest and fastest growing segment and Maruti must have a good market share in this. In the entry level SUV segment, Maruti's share is 20 per cent of the 6.6 lakh cars which is being sold annually. But Maruti does not have a car in the mid-SUV segment whose size is 5.5 lakh."