Suzuki Motor Wednesday said it plans to replicate its success in the fast-growing Indian 2-wheeler market and aims to drive into the top-five league, news reports said, citing sources.

The automobile company will commence its second 2-wheeler plant at Rohtak in Haryana to take its cumulative capacity to around 2 million units by 2015-16.

The carmaker currently operates in India through its fully-owned subsidiary Suzuki Motorcycle India Private Ltd (SMIPL).

The growth in volumes will help SMIPL like its sister concern Maruti Suzuki India with an increase in 38% market share to capture a sizeable chunk in the two-wheeler market.

Atul Gupta, SMIPL Vice-President (sales and marketing), said, “India will be the next major market for expansion for Suzuki’s two-wheeler business.” He also said, “We aim to become a major player in India just like the passenger-car business and launch an array of value-added products coupled with a widespread distribution network.”

The carmaker also plans to invest another Rs 2,000 crore in a Greenfield plant at Rohtak in Haryana leading to a total installed capacity of 1.5 million 2-wheeler units.

The first phase production of 5 lakh units from the Rohtak plant is expected by 2014. It will be expanded in a phased manner to take the production capacity to 2 million units.

The move is aimed at capturing 10% market share in India from the present 3% market.

Suzuki also plans to raise the share of motorcycles to half of its overall volumes in the domestic market by 2015.  It will also unveil its high volume mass commuter segment bike Hayate 110 cc next month.

Suzuki Motor is a Japanese MNC specializing in manufacturing compact automobiles, complete range of motorcycles, wheelchairs and other small internal combustion engines.

A company official informed TOI that this is the second R&D of Suzuki centre, and first outside Japan which is being set up in India obviously given the volume and future of the market. “We are selling around 12 lakh cars annually which are likely to reach 20 lakh by 2015. As per the market trends and experts opinion the market is expected to touch 40 lakh figure in next three years of which we hope that half will be Maruti Suzuki’s share”, the official said.

Salman, who’s traditionally known for his love for SUVs, has previously owned a Toyota Land Cruiser V8 and was recently presented with an Audi Q7 for his recent blockbuster flick ‘Bodyguard. Read more: Audi Q7 for Bodyguard Salman Khan. Bollywood’s bad boy is also known for his passion for bikes. In fact, he reportedly owns a Suzuki Hayabusa, a Yamaha R6 and four BMWs.

Suzuki is also undertaking expansion of its production capacity from 3.6 lakh units per year to 5.4 lakh units by 2013 and double sales and service network by 2014. The company has maintained a rather conservative profile in the Indian two-wheeler markets though its making steady progress. The recently launched Swish 125 has been notching up good numbers for Suzuki with total sales for March 2012 of 35,158 units compared to 27,361 units for March 2011.

“One of the showrooms that we visited has received around 200 orders in the first three days since launch – phenomenal by any standards. As a result, the waiting period for the Ertiga for both variants (petrol and diesel) has gone up to ~5 months now,” the report said.

The main reason for the success is Ertiga’s ‘value-for-money’ positioning, Standard Chartered added.

“Maruti Suzuki has launched the Ertiga at an excellent price point between Rs 5,90,000 and Rs 8,45,000 (ex-showroom Delhi),” the report said.

In comparison, the top-end models of its competitors – Toyota’s Innova and Mahindra’s Xylo – are priced at Rs 13,54,000 and Rs 10,47,000 respectively.

Moreover, Maruti’s Ertiga is easily available in both petrol and diesel variants, although the waiting period for diesel variant is as much as five months. “Most petrol variants are also readily available with attractive discounts ranging from Rs 7,000-30,000 per vehicle,” the report noted.

The Ertiga is Maruti’s latest 7-seater LUV, or Life Utility Vehicle as the carmaker has positioned it, based on the Swift platform and available in two variants – 1.4 litre K-series engine and the 1.3 litre diesel engine. The vehicle is reported to have a fuel efficiency of 16.02 kmpl, while the diesel engine can give 20.8 kmpl. Fuel efficiency is the amount of fuel consumed per kilometre.

DIESEL v/s PETROL

The auto industry has recently seen rising diesel sales in comparison to petrol because of the price difference. “The difference in the prices of the two fuels has tilted customer buying preferences toward diesel variants,” Standard Chartered said.

This has led to automakers offering discounts and offers on petrol variants but none on the diesel counterparts. “This only highlights the strong demand for diesel variants prevalent in the market,” the report added.

Standard Chartered expects Ertiga to be one of the key volume drivers for Maruti in FY13E

“We expect the subdued demand for petrol variants to be offset by strong demand for models such as the Swift, Dzire, Ertiga and other new launches including variants expected in FY13E,” the report said.

“We are expecting 1.5 lakh more diesel car sales, while the sales of petrol cars will be down by 50,000 units in the entire year.”

On April 2, the company reported a fall in its total sales, including exports, for fiscal 2011-12 by 10.8 percent at 1,133,695 units from 1,271,005 units in the last fiscal due to labour unrest, slower demand due to high cost of credit and sluggish petrol car market condition.

Bhargava said the company expected exports to remain sluggish in 2012-13 due to global market conditions.

“It (exports) will remain more or less the same as last year or may be even worse. Situation in many global markets has not improved yet.”

The company’s exports in the last fiscal fell 7.9 percent at 127,379 units from 138,266 units shipped out in 2010-11.

Bhargava said the company’s new plant in Sanand, Gujarat, will be operational by 2015.

“Sanand plant will be operational by 2015. But we will not shift entire production capacity from Gurgaon to Sanand.”

Pandora Executive Vice President of Business and Corporate Development Jessica Steel said, “As Pandora continues to redefine radio, we are excited to welcome new automotive brands like Suzuki who are making it possible for listeners and drivers to enjoy their personalized radio stations while on-the-road.”

“Pandora offers a unique radio experience so we’re pleased to enable their offering for consumers who choose the Garmin infotainment system for Suzuki vehicles,” said Matt Munn, Garmin’s managing director automotive OEM. “Our built-in voice command technology makes it easy for drivers to control Pandora’s features from the in-dash radio of their vehicle.”

The 2012 Suzuki Equator comes with a better warranty than most, but competitors outshine the Equator in nearly every other way.

The Suzuki Equator is based on the Nissan Frontier, a compact pickup truck that reviewers like for its agile ride and standard features. But even in a class known for cheap-feeling, ill-equipped interiors and inefficient engines, the Suzuki Equator comes with fewer standard features and lower fuel economy ratings than the majority of the class. It doesn’t even come standard with air conditioning or power locks, while most compact trucks do.

Reviewers appreciate the Equator’s easy-to-use features and easy-to-clean interior. But they say that its materials feel more downmarket than most rivals, and it’s one of only two compact pickups that don’t come standard with air conditioning. Plus, its back seat is cramped, even in crew cab models, so if you frequently carry back-seat passengers, you’ll want to choose a truck with a roomier second row.

Still, the Suzuki Equator isn’t all bad. It can tow almost as much as class leaders, and testers say it has fairly good handling for a compact truck. If you’re looking for a capable compact pickup truck with a low starting price and a long warranty, the Suzuki Equator is a great choice. But if you’re looking for anything close to interior comfort, you should shop the competition.

Other Trucks to Consider

The Toyota Tacoma ranks at the top of its class for having an interior that’s high-quality, fairly comfortable and relatively well-equipped. Plus, it’s one of the more capable trucks in its class. The Tacoma even costs less than the Equator, though that’s for a regular cab model.

If you’re considering the Suzuki Equator, you should take a look at the Nissan Frontier as well. The two trucks were co-developed, but reviewers say the Nissan Frontier is a bit more nimble and fun to drive than the Equator. It’s also fairly capable off-road, although it has a similar lack of standard features.

Details: Suzuki Equator

The 2012 Suzuki Equator comes in base, Comfort, Premium and Sport trims. The Sport trim is only available with the V6 engine and four-wheel drive, while two-wheel drive is standard on the other trims. The Suzuki Equator doesn’t see any significant changes for 2012.

This translated into an earning per share of Rs9.65 against Rs2.57 in 2010. The result was accompanied by a cash dividend of Rs2 per share, according to the company’s profit and loss account available with the Karachi Stock Exchange.

Nauman Khan, an analyst at the Topline Securities, said that the net earnings jumped higher on the back of increase in per unit prices and 17 percent increase in volumetric sales.

Accordingly, the net revenues of the company surged by 24 percent to Rs52.71 billion from Rs42.64 billion in 2010.

Furthermore, the company’s gross margin improved by 119 basis points to stand at 3.5 percent against 2.4 percent in the same period last year.

“The increase in the unit prices more than offset the impact of rising Japanese yen.”

Other income also increased by eight percent to Rs620.39 million against Rs575.07 million last year.

“He strikes me as a little thin-skinned in this respect,” said Senator Doug Finley. “He’s never been shy about going flat out with full rhetoric on Canadian politicians, as I say, even to the point of saying they should be jailed.” In 2008, Suzuki told Montreal students he wished for “a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail” for ignoring global warming.

In a continuing Senate inquiry, Conservative Senator Doug Finley has accused environmental charities of “selfishly slanting Canadian domestic policies” ¬ especially around the oilsands – through $300 million in funding from foreign foundations over 10 years.

The David Suzuki Foundation hit back with a form letter campaign, sending upwards of 8,000 e-mails to senators denouncing “immature rhetoric.” Senator Jim Cowan, the Liberal leader in the Senate, backs the Foundation.

“To just kind of have this drive-by smear of charities with whom the government doesn’t agree is just a dangerous, dangerous way to go,” Cowan said.

Rhetoric aside, Finley says his goal is to see a bill introduced to require all charities, not just environmental ones, publicly disclose full details of “where the (foreign) money originates, how it’s transferred through, and the manner in which it’s used.” That idea might get Grit support.

“On the face of it, it doesn’t seem to me to be an unreasonable thing to do,” Cowan said.

Even the David Suzuki Foundation doesn’t reject the idea outright.

“We fully support greater transparency on this issue and believe the Senate may instead want to turn (its) attention to the fact that corporations do not have similar reporting requirements,” Foundation spokeswoman Leanne Clare said.