Measured EV push: Maruti Suzuki to boost eVitara production only after July 2026

NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki is in no rush to aggressively push its first electric vehicle, the eVitara SUV, in the domestic Indian market as it plans to reserve a monthly production capacity of just 2,000 units for the model till July this year, looking at a ramp up only after that.

Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales) at Maruti Suzuki, said the production line making the eVitara at the company’s Gujarat factory is hard-pressed when it comes to manufacturing capacity.

The line, which currently has an annual capacity of 1 lakh units, is also used for making the Fronx while also producing the eVitara for meeting export orders and also for delivering to its Japanese partner Toyota (which sells it under the Urban Cruiser eBella branding).

“We have promised allocations to each of them (exports as well as to Toyota) when it comes to the eVitara. Also, as far as the Fronx is concerned, there has been tremendous demand in the market after the govt’s GST 2.0 reform. We are not able to cater to meet the customer demand,” Banerjee said as the company opened its 200th ‘Nexa Studio’ outlet which is targeted at non-urban centres.

After many delays, Maruti Suzuki finally started the sale of the eVitara in India from mid-February even as it had begun the exports of the green car last year. The eVitara’s variant that gives battery as a service (Baas) has an entry price of Rs 11 lakh (ex showroom) for the 49 kWh battery pack, but customers will need to pay a rental of Rs 3.99 per km of run. For the non-Baas version, the entry price is Rs 16 lakh on the 49 kWh battery version, and Rs 17.5 lakh for the 61 kWh variant.

The company had said that it plans to launch a total of four new EVs by 2030, against an initial target of getting in six greens.

On eVitara sales in the domestic market, Banerjee said that the response has been “very, very good”. He said the company wants a graded scale up of the model in the domestic market as it works on building a strong charging infrastructure around its ubiquitous dealerships as well as third-party points. “We are in no hurry. Customer experience comes first.”