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-   -   Maruti-Suzuki not entering EV segment in the short term: RC Bhargava (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/electric-cars/240975-maruti-suzuki-not-entering-ev-segment-short-term-rc-bhargava-3.html)

I agree with @Smartcat.

Maruti is very peculiar about keeping its image of making trouble free cars sacrosanct.
Because all of its profits come from mass market cars, Maruti management scoffs at anything that puts that image in question.
We have to remember that they launched entirely new car (Celerio) as test bed for honing unproven new technology like AMT - too averse to risk their reputation on their mass market darling cars.

They should venture beyond their core competency - look at the staggering number of drivetrain options Hyundai offers across its range right from launch.

BEVs will take time to achieve bulletproof reliability.
Maruti would rather wait for others to get their hands dirty, and then swoop in and take away the pie.
I see nothing wrong with this - although would have been better if they know how to keep things a bit more open ended.

The summary is Simple, apart from polishing the same Moulds to inject their body panels and lubing their stamping press to get maximum production to manufacture the decade-old vehicle line-ups, there is literally no innovation happening at Maruti, Period.

They messed up their so-called hybrid system and got penalized by govt. for putting a Hybrid-Badge which was bigger than their Li-Battery.

Of course, even if they want to have an electrified powertrain, whom to ask? Their so-called strategic partner with no strategies on electrification, now blaming the govt. for pushing EVs since they were busy with their Hydrogen plan. So Toyota can't help them and MSIL never invests in RnD to invent something because it is a waste of money.

Sorry for being towards MSIL, but with a history of knowing their RnD work culture inside out and the money they make when compared to other OEMs, it is disappointing.

Anyway, I guess its good that we don't want a cheap quality EV considering the safety aspects of a battery which should be taken at higher priority.

Hypothetically let's assume 2 to 3 years is good enough (although not even close), Maruti will still beat competition by launching something dirt cheap. If you look at their financial statements, they have very deep pockets, great infra to change direction overnight and above all - people who will blindly buy their products because they are reliable. While TATA may have an advantage right now, it will not stay forever. Thinking MSIL doesn't have a strategy around this would be simply foolish. Maruti clearly knows the market, I bet they can launch an EV in 6 months notice. When they launched the Celerio AMT, it took the market by surprise. Everyone thought AT tech is out of bounds for MSIL. Now even a Wagon R has AMT option. So, let's not underestimate MSIL which is the country's leading automobile manufacturer for over 2 decades now.

I am quite sure that 45 mins of charge will give a Nexon 80% charge only. For a real world full charge it will take more than an hour. I would love to be corrected but I don't think that is the case. You can speak to the forum members.

Maruti's reliability quotient has been on ICE. Aren't they starting on a fresh slate when it comes to EV. So people who would take the plunge on Maruti's EV just because it's Maruti may do well to think twice. What heartstart would Maruti have in the EV race? Their market leadership almost counts for nothing since EV is clearly a level playing field. Remember Tesla came out of nowhere and pipped the big boys like BMW, Audi, Merc et al. The German troika has been in the market for decades. Where do they stack up against Tesla now? While Tesla is running the nth lap now, others are jostling for space at the starting grid for pole position.


Yes Maruti knows the market. Again the ICE market. In fact they did announce in 2017 that they would have an EV by 2020 and we're almost nearing the end of 2021 and still nothing concrete on the anvil. It's not some petty graphics work facelift for Maruti to launch EV in six months, the deep pockets not withstanding. Maruti lacks vision and is too conservative. Look at their ageing line up once. No, I'm not anti Maruti. I've two of them in my garage.

The below article makes for interesting reading.

https://auto.economictimes.indiatime...again/79750639

It's not foolish it's a fact, Suzuki have '0' EV strategy!

Lol, EV in 6 month's notice, they've been trying to convert their diesel engines to BS6 for 2 years now! How many EVs do they sell in global/developed markets?

Suzuki India must be spending more money on paying Bhargavas monthly wages than they do on R&D! What was the last piece of innovation you saw from India's largest car maker? Maruti fanboys think it's the temple of cutting edge technology, they still sell an autobox developed in the 80s.

EV in 6 months my foot!

This reminds me of Nokia sticking to their Symbian OS and not taking Android seriously.
MS should start before it's too late.

It would be one thing if Suzuki didn't have a product in this segment. But every other market Suzuki operates in gets the Vitara SUV with their AWD system (that the Ignis also gets) and even that car was built in 2015. Letting only volumes decide what car you build for India is honestly the most antiquated business mindset I've seen.

People's first cars were almost always Maruti's. Today people are going straight to cars Maruti does not make just so they can avoid being seen as a sheep. EV or even a capable hybrid with Toyota's tech could be exactly what Maruti needs to break into the premium market but since the volumes are not there, better not ruffle the bottom line.

Outdated or updated tech, read the below article. When was the last time you read something more cutting edge?

https://trak.in/tags/business/2021/0...rnally-charge/

You should read this article.

https://trak.in/tags/business/2021/0...rnally-charge/

Hello Raghu, welcome to the new world!

When was the last time you read something more cutting edge?
Ans: 10 years ago when Musk made the Tesla S presentation.

That article basically says that Maruti will borrow hybrid tech from Toyota (a.k.a 'jointly develop' in corporate speak, the gentleman speaking is a corporate liaison, not an R&D guy), and they're hoping this technology will hold them in good stead in 10-15 years. If this is your idea of 'cutting edge' my friend, hate to break the news to you that the world has moved on.

Raghu why don't you read up about how Toyota's global Prius sales have come down crashing since the advent of new gen EVs.

I’d not blame him. The language is, to put it most politely, borderline misinformation and not just corporate jargon. “False advertising claims another victim!”, to give benefit of doubt to him.

You don’t get banned from using the phrase “self charging hybrid” by using corporate jargon or being cutting edge.

https://electrek.co/2020/01/24/toyot...ed-norway-lie/

Toyota has been trying to outright fool consumers in advertising what apparently comes across as “perpetual motion machines” or “infinite energy” to buyers who aren’t exactly most well versed with science.

Regenerative braking to boost mileage is not cutting edge. All EVs have it by default. Such is the beauty of an electric motor.

Nor is driving axles by using an electric motor powered by ICE engine. Diesel electric locomotives have been in use since 50s.

You’re simply siphoning off some electricity from alternator/ISG and saving some kinetic energy from regenerative braking (but much lesser than an EV of same kind). Toyota doesn’t have Elder Wand to conjure up energy out of thin air to drive the motors.

Does the tech work? Yes. It gives you more mileage. But is it a correct choice of words to convey it? Hell no.

It appears as if they’re banking all their pros on the fact that “you don’t need to plug it in” when they say it’s “self charging”.

EV's maybe a trend according to some analysts.

If you ask me, EV's are here to stay and will exist parallelly with whatever else is going on in the ICE market with alternative sources of fuel(ethanol, fuel cell, and fossil fuels) till the norms halt all ICE passenger vehicles world over. That is 15 years tops. Maybe even 10 years or less considering the push from the governments for EV adoption.

Not having an EV as an option is surely a wishing away a good chunk of your business.

If MS does not change its stance soon, this is their Kodak moment. Business Giants have been swept away in the tsunami of changes due to tech. MS may fall too.

Or they are cleverly concealing the fact they are developing an EV or two. WagonR EV has been spotted testing.

MS has all the best-selling cars. Swap the ICE with an externally developed tech from a smaller company, they have the money to acquire and they are set.

This appears to be a likely strategy, maybe they want to send out confusing signals to the competition and then take everyone by surprise by launching a cheaper EV. The WagonR EV has been doing the rounds for a long time now.

RCB has created an infamy for himself for making sensationalist statements. While the company ends up responding to regulations silently. Are they sandbagging here, since the Wagon-R has been spotted testing for some months now.

I have observed that nowadays, Maruti Suzuki is playing safe. They are 'worried' about launching electric cars at these times as they wouldn't know how the market will respond to it. They do not want to be first mover advantage anymore.
Because in India, if a model flops, no one buys it again no matter what you do to its successive iterations.
So, they are silently watching the whole market reponses & based on that, they will take decisions. Also, its an indirect way of saying, it'll take time for our market to mature to EVs.

As someone said above, there's a possibility for them to launch affordable EVs anytime. So no one really knows what's their strategy considering recent spotting of their test models.

With that said, I appreciate what Tata is doing with EV technology today.

The "Self-Charging Hybrid cars" title itself scales the quality of Trak.in content.rl:

I don't understand how long these online sites/Fan pages fool the general public considering the fact that everyone has access to the internet to know whats real :coldsweat.