Maruti’s first electric SUV to debut in 2025

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki unveiled a concept car of its first electric SUV at the Auto Show 2023 on Wednesday and promised to bring it to Indian roads in 2025.

The move comes as part of its Japanese parent’s Rs 10,000-crore push to make purely electric vehicles and batteries in India, and as Maruti looks to regain the market share lost to Tata Motors and other rivals in the world’s third-largest auto market.

Maruti has lagged its foreign rivals in launching SUVs in India and ceded ground to its local competitors by being late to make the switch to electric vehicles.

Maruti’s mid-sized electric sports utility vehicle, dubbed the eVX or ‘Emotional Versatile Cruiser’, will feature a 60 kilo-watt hour battery pack and a driving range of 550 km. The concept of its first battery electric vehicle was designed and developed by Suzuki. It will serve as an all-electric platform to build the company’s future range of EVs.

“Our approach towards electric vehicles is holistic with scale and localisation,” Maruti Suzuki India Ltd Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Hisashi Takeuchi said, adding that it planned to invest more in India to bring various sustainable alternatives to its customers.

Maruti, which has been struggling to fend off rivals such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Kia Motors in the past two years, saw its market share in retail sales fall to 41.66% in December 2022 from 48.21% in December 2020.

The unveiling of the concept EV car comes at a time when other top automakers have already warmed up to the idea of electrifying their product portfolios.

Maruti will explore a full spectrum of technologies like hybrids, CNG, bio-CNG, ethanol and electric to support the Union government’s twin objective of reducing its oil-import bill and achieving net zero goals by 2070, Takeuchi added.

It also displayed its other sustainable vehicles including Brezza S-CNG, WagonR Flex Fuel prototype and Grand Vitara Intelligent Electric Hybrid. Maruti’s WagonR Flex Fuel prototype has an internal combustion engine that can run on a blend of fuel and ethanol from 20 to 85%.