Suzuki to bring mid-size SUV in India, may be produced at Toyota plant in Karnataka
Suzuki Motor Corp is developing a mid-size SUV for India. It will directly compete with the SUV of South Korean company Hyundai, which currently dominates the fast-growing SUV segment. According to sources, the code name of the new vehicle is ‘YFG’ which is based on Suzuki’s popular global SUV brand, Grand Vitara.
Toyota plant in Karnataka can be used
Production of this Suzuki SUV is expected to start from 2022 at Toyota Motor Corp’s plant in Karnataka. This will become the first Suzuki product to be built by Toyota in India under a partnership between the two Japanese companies.
Suzuki-Toyota will be sold under both brands
The new SUV will be sold under both the Suzuki and Toyota brand names. The SUV is expected to come with a strong gasoline hybrid powertrain, so that both companies can qualify for the second phase of strict corporate average fuel efficiency norms.
Hyundai-Kia dominates the segment at this time
Suzuki is to fill the gap in the mid-size SUV segment with the introduction of the Grand Vitara based SUV in India, where Hyundai and Kia dominate the segment with their Creta and Seltos. Suzuki’s unit, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., sells the S-Cross crossover but it is still largely accepted by the customer.
Sources says that to succeed in the SUV segment, Suzuki will need to increase the profits of its India subsidiary company in the SUV segment in India. The new vehicles will be shared by both Suzuki and Toyota, and will also help them expand their portfolio. Although Suzuki has managed to maintain its overall market share, the SUV segment has been equally declining. However, Maruti Suzuki and Toyota have not officially given any clarification regarding the upcoming SUV.
Maruti Suzuki is India’s largest car manufacturer, thanks to its huge range of affordable, fuel-efficient small cars. Hyundai, however, dominates the SUV segment with compact and mid-size SUVs sold under its Hyundai and Kia brands. Other manufacturers such as Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and MG Motor India are also set to launch their new products in the mid-size segment this year.
Suzuki will increase market share through SUV
Suzuki is set to regain lost market share to the new SUV. News reported on 17 December that Maruti Suzuki is developing a compact SUV based on the Baleno hatchback to increase its market share in the compact SUV segment. The SUV segment has emerged as the largest volume driver in the domestic market in the last two years. Suzuki announced in 2018 that its compact SUV Vitara Brezza would be the first product to be built at Toyota’s plant. However, the company said in December that another model would be built instead of it at Toyota’s plant.
SUV more profitable than hatchback-sedan
Hyundai and Kia together accounted for 44% of India’s SUV market last year, while Maruti Suzuki accounted for 14%. SUVs are considered more profitable than hatchbacks and small sedans.
SUV’s share was highest at 29% last year
According to the report, the SUV segment was the lowest at 6 percent in 2020 compared to other segments. In December 2020, 7,06,936 SUVs were sold while in 2019 the same period 7,54,903 SUVs were sold. That is, the demand for SUVs was faster than other vehicles. The SUV accounted for 29 percent of the total, which is 3 percent higher than in 2019. This figure was 26 percent in 2019. Size-wise, the overall SUV sales accounted for 76 percent of the small, 20 percent of the midsize and 5 percent of the full size.
