Much known as bete noire of sorts, the top auto major Maruti car is expected to roll out from Toyota’s factory in India. This comes after the two Japanese carmakers give finishing touches to a new premium SUV — a competitor to Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, and VW Taigun — strengthening their relationship which may now be extended to green vehicles, including hybrids and electrics.
The new SUV that is likely to be launched in collaboration, is a joint effort, with Toyota pitching in with product development, design, engineering, and sourcing along with Maruti’s parent Suzuki.
R&D and component sourcing teams within Maruti have also played a key part in the development of the vehicle which is likely to hit the Indian market by the second half of next year.
The collaboration between the two companies is likely to get aggressive, especially after the Indian government announced a Rs 26,000-crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme focused only on electrics and hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles.
The investments for the vehicle which has been developed ground-up – are estimated at over Rs 1,000 crore.
