At the ongoing Auto Expo 2023, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) showcased the EVX concept in production form and will become the first BEV from the carmaker.
Speaking to Mobility Outlook, Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, noted that the vehicle is likely to be retailed through the NEXA outlet.
“MSI’s general philosophy is to bring new technologies through Nexa,” he added. However, with that being the retail model for new technologies, it will also depend on the underlying model, Srivastava noted, stating that a WagonR EV might get retailed through the ARENA channel only.
The company plans to launch the EVX in a phased manner, starting with cities with a higher rate of adoption for EVs, the MSIL marketing and sales head noted.
On the sidelines of the launch, CV Raman, CTO, MSI, said that Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan handled the entire project.
However, Srivastava noted that the company has been working in collaboration with the Japanese entity to share a lot of market research which has gone into developing the product.
“We looked at several aspects of EVs in India through our WagonR EV test vehicle. Besides, we understood the current EV experience in India from EV owners of other brands. These initiatives helped us to get a good sense of the market,” he added.
The study discovered that customers' range anxiety has increased due to the lack of home charging infrastructure, as most Indians live in apartments. Moreover, unlike Japan and the US, where 90% of the vehicles are parked at a fixed spot, in India, around 45% of the vehicles are parked at random places, thus making it difficult to go for home charging solutions which help a lot to reduce range anxiety,” he said.
The carmaker is currently developing such support for the customers before bringing in the product, Srivastava noted.
Earlier during the unveiling of the product, Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director, Suzuki Motor Corporation, said that addressing global warming is a priority. Because of this, MSI will invest INR 100 billion to produce BEV and their batteries.
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