Maruti Suzuki plans to begin production at its Manesar plant

Maruti Suzuki India is planning to begin the production of its vehicles at its upcoming plant at Manesar from October 2011. A top official of the company said the company plans to begin production six months ahead of schedule because of its severe capacity constraint.

The new facility at Manesar will cost Rs 1,700 crore and will produce 2.5 lakh more cars. Due to this facility, Maruti’s annual production capacity will reach to around 15 lakh cars by 2014. The company has already reached the full capacity of 10-lakh vehicles a year in March. Maruti Suzuki is also planning to maximise from its installed capacity by the production of around 12 lakh vehicles during this fiscal. Maruti’s MD and CEO, Shinzo Nakanishi, said that they are witnessing an unprecedented demand in the market and therefore intend to start their new plant earlier than the scheduled opening in April 2012 and will finish the year by 20% more production over the last year.

Maruti Suzuki expects that the new facility will also support the company in strengthening its position in the competitive market. The company has been losing market share to automakers such as Ford, Volkswagen and General Motors. All of them have launched compact cars this year. Maruti’s market share has dropped to 56% from 61% in the quarter ended June last year while it dropped to 47%  for the first six months of this year.