India’s largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki plans to increase its exports to Africa and South East Asia in order to offset the low demand for petrol cars in the country as well as the high import costs due to the depreciation of the Indian rupee.
With the shift in the demand from petrol cars to diesel powered cars in India, the demand for petrol cars has fallen significantly rendering the petrol car manufacturing capacity of carmakers useless. Thus, by expanding its export activities, Maruti Suzuki will be able to utilize its petrol car production capacity while offsetting the high costs of importing components, stated Mr. Shashank Srivastava Executive Officer for Product Planning and International Markets, Maruti Suzuki India.
Mr. Ajay Seth Chief Financial Officer Maruti Suzuki reports that markets such as Africa are witnessing a high growth and demand for petrol cars manufactured by Maruti Suzuki. The automaker is able to utilize about 70 percent of its petrol car manufacturing capacity.