Maruti Suzuki India starts production at new plant in Haryana's Kharkhoda

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Tuesday announced that it has commenced production at its new manufacturing facility in Kharkhoda, Haryana, which has an annual production capacity of 250,000 units. This is MSIL’s fourth manufacturing facility.

 

The company’s previous three facilities are located in Gurgaon and Manesar in Haryana and Hansalpur in Gujarat, with a combined annual production capacity of 2.35 million units.

 

"To begin with, the Kharkhoda facility will... produce the compact SUV Brezza. With this, MSIL—including Suzuki Motor Gujarat Private Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary of MSIL—will have a total annual production capability of 2.6 million units," the company said in a statement. The Kharkhoda facility’s annual capacity could be expanded to 1 million units.

 

 

Earlier this month, MSIL’s parent company, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), lowered its long-term annual sales forecast for its Indian subsidiary by 15 per cent, now targeting 2.54 million units by FY31 instead of the 3 million units announced in 2023, citing increasing competition in the Indian market. The Japanese automaker also announced plans to launch four new electric vehicles (EVs) in India by FY31, down from the originally planned six.

 

SMC also stated that MSIL will establish a production system capable of manufacturing 4 million units annually over the next five to six years to meet domestic demand and expand its role as an export hub. "However, we will not rush to achieve 4 million units (annual capacity) by 2030 at any cost; instead, we will implement this plan at the appropriate timing, considering market conditions," it added.

 

At an internal meeting earlier this week, members of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) reached a consensus that passenger vehicle (PV) sales may rise only 0.07 per cent in the current financial year and grow marginally by 1-2 per cent in the next. In FY24, domestic PV sales stood at 3.89 million units.

 

Major Indian carmakers are bracing for sluggish domestic PV sales growth in 2025-26, citing weak demand, affordability concerns, declining entry-level car sales, the fading post-pandemic surge, inflation, rupee depreciation against the dollar, and geopolitical uncertainties.