Suzuki says will have to move to e-cars

New Delhi : Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s biggest carmaker, said on Friday it planned to build electric cars as the government strives to electrify all new vehicles by 2030, though it didn’t give a timeline for the process.

Maruti Suzuki’s chairman said there was still no clear roadmap on how the government aimed to achieve its target and a lot would depend on that.

“We will make electric cars but I can’t give you the date just now because it is all very much a work in progress,” R.C. Bhargava told reporters, after the company posted a 3 percent rise in quarterly profit, beating analysts’ estimates.

India is working on a new auto policy that promotes the use of electric cars, and a draft is likely to be made public before the end of the year. This is a shift from an earlier policy that promoted hybrid and electric vehicles.

Sales of electric cars in India remain negligible, however, mainly due to the high cost of batteries which make the vehicles expensive and out of reach for many buyers in a country where cars are as cheap as 250,000 rupees ($3,800). A lack of charging stations also makes the whole proposition unviable for now.

Maruti’s parent, Suzuki Motor Corp, has electric car technology which it can provide, Bhargava said, adding the Japanese company was also in talks with Toyota Motor Corp to form an alliance which may include sharing technologies like hybrid and electric.

Maruti dominates the small car market in India and has been launching more premium vehicles as competition heats up with newer and planned entrants such as Kia Motors and SAIC Motor Corp.