India’s leading car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, is planning to launch new models in the small car segment and has announced an investment of Rs. 3,000 crore to be made during 2012-13. An amount of Rs. 4,000 crore has already been invested at the Manesar plant for the purpose of research and development. Two new plants are also being planned to be set up by the company at Manesar with an annual production capacity of 2,50,000 units each. Huge investments are also being made in the Rohtak plant in Haryana for the R&D of the new K Series engine.
In the light of increasing petrol prices, customer preference has shifted to diesel engine cars leading to a year on year sales growth of 60-80% for that segment. To cash in on this development, the company is planning to increase the production of the diesel engines which are manufactured by Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd. at the Manesar facility.