Only recently, the Asians presented the eVX, the first electric vehicle, which, however, will not be on the road until 2025. So far, one has searched in vain for an electric car in Suzuki’s current model range; interesting small cars like Jimny and Swift should attract customers. The 4.30 meter long Suzuki eVX has now celebrated its world premiere at the Auto Expo in India, the most important market for the Japanese. The electric eVX concept is supplied with energy on both axles by a 60 kWh battery, which should ensure a range of 550 kilometers before the next charging stop. Toshihiro Suzuki, President of Suzuki Motor Corporation, said: “I am pleased to present the eVX concept as a preview of our first global and strategically important electric model. “The fight against global warming is a top priority for Suzuki. That is why we are promoting a range of global measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
The growth strategy of the Suzuki Motor Corporation envisages extensive investments in the electrification of the product portfolio by the end of the 2030 financial year. By the end of the decade, 4.5 trillion yen, the equivalent of 31.8 billion euros, are to flow into new models and a sustainable group. In addition to its production principle “Sho-Sho-Kei-Tan-Bi” (translated: “smaller, less, lighter, shorter and cleaner”), lean management and flexible decisions should be in the foreground. By 2050, the Japanese carmaker wants to become CO2-neutral in Europe and its home country. In the mass market of India, however, this should last until 2070.
At the beginning of 2024, Suzuki plans to introduce its first small electric car in Japan and expand the electric portfolio to six small cars and SUVs by 2031. During this period, 80 percent of all new European vehicles should be purely electrically powered. However, Suzuki does not want to rely entirely on electric cars, because new microcars and compact models with hybrid drives are currently being developed. In addition, CO2-neutral vehicles with combustion engines are planned for the Indian market, which can be operated with either CNG, biogas or mixed ethanol fuels.
Suzuki also intends to introduce the first electric drives for small and medium-sized motorcycles by early 2025. Eight all-electric models are planned by early 2031, meaning that every fourth two-wheeler sold would be electric. The Asians are also planning to introduce large motorcycles that can run on CO2-neutral fuels. Modeled on Opel Rocks Electric or the Citroen Ami, a battery-powered mini vehicle for seniors who have voluntarily surrendered their driver’s license is under development.
By the middle of the next decade, the Japanese plants should have become CO2 neural. At the Kosai plant, Suzuki’s largest production center in Japan, savings of 30 percent are planned through new painting processes. In the future, the flagship plant also wants to produce green hydrogen, which will be used for the tests of fuel cell vans that will begin at the end of 2022. The main market, India, remains more important than ever, where Suzuki, together with its cooperation partner Maruti, is the most important car manufacturer. Here biogas should play a bigger role in the future. At Suzuki, CNG models account for around 70 percent of the entire CNG market. The biogas mixed with the fuel of these vehicles is obtained from cow dung, which consists of milk waste and is mainly produced in rural areas of India. The cooperation with the Toyota Motor Corporation is also to be strengthened, whereby automated and electric vehicles are to be put on the road together and new markets in emerging countries are to be conquered.
