Maruti to shift production to Manesar

Maruti Suzuki, the country's biggest car maker, today said it will shift car production from its Gurgaon plant to the new facility at Manesar in a phased manner.

"The Gurgaon plant will be gradually changed to a base for engine assembly and machining, while automobile assembly will be integrated at Manesar plant," the company said in a statement.

Maruti Suzuki said that the land at Gurgaon has been fully utilised which has left no scope for expansion. As a result, the car assembly plant will be relocated to Manesar where the company had acquired land some years back.

“The building of the existing Gurgaon plant was constructed in early 1970’s. It had been refurbished and modified before Maruti Udyog began production in 1983. The said building is almost 40 years old, and the building and equipment are depreciated to a large extent. Therefore, it is necessary to reconstruct the building and modernise the production facilities,” the statement added.

The Gurgaon plant produces the Maruti 800, Omni, Versa, Alto, WagonR, Estilo and Gypsy. The Manesar facility of the company manufactures the A-Star, Ritz, SX4, Swift and Swift Dzire. Between the two facilities, Maruti Suzuki has a total production capacity of 920,000 cars per annum.

The decision to shift production was taken during Suzuki Motor Corp Chairman & CEO Osamu Suzuki's visit to India to attend the annual general meeting of Maruti Suzuki shareholders, the statement said. During the visit, a review of the company’s production facilities was carried out.

“As the shifting of production facilities will result in an increase in the production volume at the Manesar plant, we have requested the Haryana Government for further support so that the railway siding at Manesar can be completed as early as possible,” the statement added.