Suzuki will use a dedicated platform to be developed with Toyota for compact EVs in bringing new offerings to the market. A lineup including sport utility vehicles appears to be under consideration. The move will extend the Japanese carmakers’ Indian partnership from hybrids to electrics.

Although Suzuki is India’s top seller of passenger vehicles, its market share slipped 4.3 percentage points to 43.4% in fiscal 2021, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

Local and South Korean rivals have recently made inroads. Tata Motors has struck a deal to acquire a Ford Motor plant in India with an eye toward boosting EV production.

For now, Suzuki plans to expand offerings of SUVs – which are popular in India – as part of its lineup of gasoline-powered vehicles. The automaker is also preparing to shift to EVs, investing 31 billion rupees (US$388 million) to increase EV production capacity in the western state of Gujarat by 2025 and 73 billion rupees to bring an EV battery plant online there by 2026.

RBSA Advisors forecasts that India’s EV market, including two-wheelers, will grow to more than US$150 billion by 2030.