Suzuki’s A-Star to be rolled out of India

14 December, 2007

India will be the manufacturing hub for another Suzuki beauty. Japanese auto giant Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) has lifted the wraps off the fifth global car from its stables, which is all set to be rolled out of its Indian manufacturing facility.

The car, A-Star, will debut as a five-door hatchback and is expected to charm audiences at the forthcoming Auto Expo. The car, will come with a newly developed Euro V-compliant 1.0 litre petrol engine, which is to be made by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL).

According to a report, the manual transmission for the car will be manufactured by Suzuki Powertrain India, a subsidiary of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. The new A segment car will be manufactured at MSIL’s Manesar plant where the capacity will be pushed up from the current 1 lakh units to 3 lakh units once the production of A-Star starts in October 2008.

Aimed at the European auto markets, the company plans to vend as many as 1,00,000 units in Europe under the Suzuki badge. The remaining 50,000 will be sold in India.

Meanwhile, Suzuki has other plans too for India. The company’s fourth global car, Splash, which was rolled out in September 2007 will be brought to the Indian roads. The Splash will be introduced in the country with a 1.2 litre petrol engine and a 1.3 litre diesel version.

Suzuki has already lined up major investment plans for the country. A report said that by year 2010, the company will have pumped in an amount of Rs 9,000 crore in India. It is also believed that a sizeable portion of this has already gone into the development of the new car plant at Manesar.

According to reports, the company would be pumping in money for the development of a diesel facility, new engine series, and upgradation of the Gurgaon plant.